Autobot in Shining Armor
by Zachana16
Summary: After the events of Mission City everything returned to some form of normalcy. Maggie's role in everything is all but forgotten by the world. Then her apartment is broken into and her world is violently shifted to accommodate a new guardian, Optimus Prime
1. One of Those Days

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Autobot in Shining Armor

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, Beast Wars, or any of the characters affiliated with either series. This'll be my second attempt at this genre so please bare with me. And a huge thank you to my beta Blackwing.Rose for her help. She's got a wonderful Transformers story called How We Seared the Sky, which is a must read for all you fans out there. Thank you and please enjoy.

Chapter 1: One of Those Days

It was raining outside. This would not have been such a big deal, had the roof of her apartment not been leaking again. She had told the landlord about it twice already, and on both occasions the swine of a man had sworn that he would get to it. And yet here she was, some two weeks later, with a dripping roof. One would think, with the work she did, that she would be able to afford somewhere better than this, but unfortunately her government salary only allowed her to live alone if she did so in a less developed part of the city. If the crappiness of her apartment wasn't bad enough, her neighbors were worse. The couple that lived on her right came in at odd hours and started shouting matches, whilst the family that lived to her left were recent immigrants from Mexico and none of them spoke English. This was a problem, since their baby was always waking her up every two hours with its wailing.

"I need a vacation," she murmured, running a hand through her haphazardly drawn up blond hair. She had been trying to crack a frustratingly complex code that surrounded the information that had been recovered after Megatron half-destroyed the Hoover Dam facility - working on it for three days straight with little sleep and few food breaks. If this wasn't bad enough, her boss expected her to crack the code within the next few days or he'd be putting a new analyst on the job. She was hungry, tired, and frustrated. She did not think that any of those other idiots could get any further than she had, and she had been the one to discover the Decepticon's frequency during the war. "Idiots probably wouldn't be able to read it anyway, it's all in Cybertronian," she continued, stretching her arms over her head until she heard several satisfying pops resound from her back and shoulders. "Alright, Maggie, you can do this."

Maggie Madsen was one of the smartest people the Pentagon had working for them, and they knew it. No one else could decode the Cybertronian language and bypass the safety measures surrounding the networks of information. To her knowledge, none of the others could even read Cybertronian, let alone be expected to hack their way through massively advanced firewalls. She could give that spastic little creep Frenzy credit for that feat - he was a talented hacker. Granted, he was also a member of a race of super-intelligent, sentient robots, but still. Blue-green eyes burned as she tried to focus back on her laptop's screen, willing herself to get back to work. After nearly an hour of trying, however, she finally gave up and threw her hands into the air. "That's it, I'm getting out of here. I need some fresh air anyway, maybe it'll help clear my head."

She noticed wearily that the sun was getting ready to set as she left the confines of her apartment complex. It meant that she would not be out for too long. With winter fast approaching, the days had grown distinctly shorter, and she wouldn't be caught dead out in this part of town after dark. Holding her umbrella securely over her head, Maggie hailed a cab, wanting to escape this little corner of hell she called home for the past few days. Of course, when the cabbie stopped to get her, he sloshed muddy water all over her - leaving her standing there, cold and wet. "Thanks a lot fella."

She got the distinct sensation that today was going to be one of those days.

(Two hours and a cab ride later)

It was dark out now, and she was still miles from her apartment. She hadn't dared hail another cab; not after the incident earlier. Besides, it wasn't that far to walk and she needed the exercise. She clutched her purse tightly, knowing that this wasn't a great part of town to be out in after dark, especially if you were a woman. She'd heard tales of lone women being abducted and raped or even killed during the night. It sent a cold shiver down her spine, but that could just be her reaction from still being mildly wet after the cabbie had soaked her thoroughly. She sighed loudly, looking up at the barely visible moon from where it peaked out between the dispersing clouds. At least it wasn't raining anymore, since her umbrella had turned inside out during the storm while she'd been walking in the park. "Stupid Maggie, just stupid."

She made it back to her apartment with no incident, but as she drew closer to her door a feeling of cold dread settled into her body. The door was open, the hinges clear of the frame. Someone was in her apartment, perhaps even someone that was after the code she'd been working on. She was just about to call the cops, even had the phone up to her ear, when the person that had broken into her apartment came out carrying her computer. Maggie's eyes went wide in her head, staring at the mountain of a man as he stood there contemplating her. "So not my day." She managed to murmur before turning around and taking off down the stairs.

'_So glad I wore blue jeans today!_' She thought, going down the flights of stairs as quickly as her slender body would take her. She heard the booming of footsteps behind her but didn't stop, knowing that if she did he'd catch her and god only knew what would happen then. She had the cell phone to her ear again, but couldn't stop long enough to dial the number. The dial tone blared in her ear, and she finally just used the only voice command she had programmed into her phone. "Emergency!"

It rang for what seemed like eternity, longer than she wanted to wait. Another voice came on the line just as she was ready to give up, a voice that sounded calm and full of an authority she couldn't begin to figure out the origin of. Stupid Witwicky boy, giving her this bogus number. It was her last shot, however, and she took it. "My name is Maggie Madsen. Sam gave me this number, told me to…" She huffed loudly as she rounded down to another flight of stairs. "Use this line if I was ever in need of help." She paused again, listening to the heavy footsteps as they neared her location. Did this guy ever give up?

"What is the nature of your emergency, Miss Madsen?" The other person finally answered, and she thought he sounded mildly annoyed this time. Great, just what she didn't need right now.

"There's a freakin' monster chasing me and you ask the nature of my emergency!" She snapped back, finally loosing her temper with whoever was on the other side of the line. "Just call the cops for me or something, you insensitive prick!"

The man caught up to her then, catching her around the waist and throwing her against the concrete wall inside the stairwell with enough force that she knew something had to have bruised at least. The cell phone went flying, falling over the railing and to its untimely death at the bottom of the still seven story drop. "Oh God…" She breathed out as she tried to remain calm after her last hope escaped her grasp. "What do you want from me?"

Her attacker simply smiled, a cruel expression that drew a shudder out of her. He'd kill her, she knew that look. She'd seen that same cruel look on a different face, though still knew it. He kept her pinned up hard to the wall, applying pressure to her arms until she felt something start to give. "I want you to answer some questions for me."

* * *

It had been such an unusual call, and one that he didn't recognize the origin of. He was doubly surprised when the caller, Margaret Madsen his files told him, chewed him out. It wasn't as if he wasn't already en route to aid her, so why had she gotten angry? He put the question through his processors several times, trying to figure out what he'd said that could have set her off. The conclusion he finally came up with was that she was simply distressed and that he should therefore ignore her angry outburst. Granted the he had probably sounded mildly annoyed when he answered her, since he'd broken communications with Ironhide just before the call came in. His weapons expert was having a disagreement with the Lennox family again, and he'd had to order him to remain where he was yet again.

The large Autobot sighed, a soft wheezing sound that vibrated his vehicle mode just slightly. He remembered Margaret Madsen. She was the young woman that had managed to break the coding of their language and translate it into her own, but she was also one of the few humans alive that could crack through the protective layers of coding and firewalls that usually accompanied one of Frenzy's projects. She was the analyst that had discovered the hacking signal during the beginning of the war on earth. She was a smart femme for a human, though he'd never gotten the chance to meet her with all that had gone on during and since they'd destroyed Megatron at Mission City. Perhaps this would turn out to be a better day that he'd first thought.

As he neared the location of her last transmission an eerie feeling settled into his systems. Something about this didn't seem right, though he couldn't place the how or why of it. The neighborhood he found himself in was less than ideal for a single person, and he wondered exactly why she'd chosen to live here. Tranquility wasn't so overcrowded that she couldn't have just found somewhere else, so why? He put the thought aside for the time being as he saw a flash of blond hair as it was stuffed unceremoniously into the back of a black Nissan.

He pulled around in front of them so that they'd be trapped against the building, not wanting to reveal himself if he didn't absolutely have to. "I would suggest you release Miss Madsen." He rumbled, allowing his voice processors to bring the sound out almost booming. The human that had shoved her into the car stopped what he was doing and stared at him as if trying to figure out who was speaking to him.

"Ya' should learn ta mind your own damn business. This don' concern you." The man told him simply, and it took his processors a moment to figure out what the man was saying before he was able to form a response.

"Then perhaps you shouldn't try to kidnap helpless women from their homes."

The man threw himself into the car then, shouting at the other man in the front seat. "Just drive, man, he'll move!" Of course he had no intention of moving, and let out a loud grunt when the smaller vehicle rammed into his side. Ratchet was going to have a fit over this one, but there were more important things to deal with right now. Like dealing with these two.

He was a reasonable bot, he really was, but these two crossed the line. After assuring himself that no one was around that could see him he transformed, waiting for the overly long shift from one form to the other to finish before leaning over and grabbing the top of the Nissan. With one hard pull he ripped the roof off the black car, revealing the two men and the struggling Miss Madsen. "That was a bad idea."

The two men started screaming, one raising a semi automatic weapon of some sort and attempting to destroy him with it. The bullets simply bounced off his armor, sending sparks back at the men since he was now leaning over the car so that he was eye level with the felons. He waited for them to run out of ammo before relieving them of their weapons, still glaring at them angrily. "Get out of vehicle, gentlemen." He told them calmly, keeping his optics trained on them in case they tried something stupid.

They did as he asked then promptly took off, both screaming about the giant robot that had attacked them. It wasn't likely that they'd be believed, but still. He turned his optics back to the woman that had requested his aid. She sat in the back seat in most unnatural angle, rolled onto her back and staring up at him with wide eyes. She seemed no the worse for wear, though his scanners told him that she had fractures in both of her arms and a large amount of bruising along her neck and spine. He'd take her to see Ratchet, see what could be done for her before he took her back home. "Margaret Madsen, I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots. You called for aid."

The femme's response was for her eyes to roll back into her head as she fainted, leaving a very concerned Optimus to try and figure out what had caused it. He reached into the ruined Nissan with both hands, carefully removing her from the remains and holding her close to his body so that she'd be protected. He knew he couldn't remain out in the open like this for long, to do so could expose his people to danger. He remained in a crouch for a long moment, then set the unconscious woman back in the Nissan and transformed back into his alternate mode. Optimus sighed again. He supposed this could be counted as an emergency. After all, a life was in danger. He'd get her to aid as quickly as possible, even if that meant using his still-experimental holoform. He did wonder, as he concentrated on moving her without doing her more harm, why these people had been after her in the first place.

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That's it for this chapter.  
I hope you like it.  
Questions? Comments?  
Please read and review.


	2. Into The Thick of Things

Autobot in Shining Armor

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, Beast Wars, or any of the characters affiliated with either series. As always a huge thank you goes to my lovely beta Blackwing.Rose for all of her help.

Author's Notes: I was certainly surprised to see how quickly this story caught the attention of the fan fiction community. Thanks to everyone for the reviews, cookies, and wonderful comments, they have inspired me to continue working on this story.

Chapter Two: Into The Thick of Things

There was a steady beeping sound coming from somewhere near her head, and it was beginning to get on her nerves. She didn't know what it was, or where it was coming from, but she knew she was going to squash it when she found it. Her pounding headache didn't help matters much either. As her conscious mind slowly swam to the surface Maggie started remembering what had happened to her. Dripping roof, stupid cabbies, thugs in her apartment, and that huge robot…. Blue-green eyes flew open, wide eyed terror assaulting her.

"Calm down, Miss Madsen, you are in safe hands." Came a reassuring voice from the left of where she'd been lain out. The blond slowly turned her head, the color leaving her face when she saw the huge robot standing next to her. It wasn't even the one that had come to her rescue, that she may have dealt with, but this?

"AH!" She screamed as she scrambled off the table she'd been lain on, falling a few feet before she hit the ground with a loud grunt. "What the hell!?" She yelled, hiding under the ultra large examination table as the large robot snorted in annoyance. Maggie's body started to hurt, as adreniline started flooding her system and the rest of the previous events resurfaced. They were going to kill her after they'd gotten all the information out of her, but why? And…"Where's my laptop?" She murmured, starting to look for a way out to go in search of her research. Of course, she'd heard of the ultra large sentient robots, but this was the first time she'd met one.

"Please cease with the hysterics, Miss Madsen." The robot said again, this time sounding more annoyed and least reassuring. "I am Ratchet, the medic for the Autobots. Our leader, Optimus, brought you here seeking medical assistance."

Maggie started thinking fast, her mind jumping from one thought to another until she'd calmed down enough to peek out at the yellow medic. She was an intelligent woman, and always curious to learn new things. First contact, at least for her it was, would be an adventure. Sure beat working in an underappreciated capacity for Secretary Keller. "If I come out there, are you going to step on me?"

Ratchet snorted. "Don't insult me. One, the Autobots are sworn to protect you humans; two, only a Decepticon would step on you; and three, I wouldn't step on you anyway, its unsanitary." He seemed to be a bit on the cranky side, but otherwise Ratchet seemed to have a very interesting personality. He certainly had an interesting sense of humor.

The blond haired woman stepped slowly from behind the leg of the Autobot sized examination table, wary of the twenty-five foot robot standing only a few feet from her. Of course, she also had to pick that moment to realize she wasn't dressed in her regular clothes anymore. "What happened to my clothes?" She asked the medic, not really all that surprised to find herself in a hospital gown. After all, she had been injured by those thugs when they'd removed her from her apartment.

The room filled with the rich rumble of laughter. Ratchet kneeled down in front of her, offering her his hand so that he could help her back onto the examination table. "You meet an creature more than twice your size and you are worried about your clothes? You humans really are a fascinating species."

Maggie stuck her tongue out at him at that, earning her another round of laughter from the medic. "Glad someone is amused, because I'm not." She crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at him even after she'd cautiously climbed up into his offered hand. The young anylist ran a hand through her disheveled hair once she was safely back on the table, turning around and placing her hands against her hips. "Would you stop laughing and get me some clothes before I freeze to death!"

Ratchet seemed to pause at that, scanning her over worriedly before announcing. "My scanners tell me that you are in no danger of that situation, though your body temperature is lower than what is considered the norm. I shall find you something suitable to wear, wait here." With that he left the room, his large form making slight booming sounds as he walked down the hall.

"Like I could go anywhere like this." She murmured, glaring angrily at the spot Ratchet had just stood. "Pompous jerk."

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(Optimus)

She had been here for nearly three days now, all of them spent in a state of unconciousness. Though Ratchet had assured him that there was nothing so wrong with her that she wouldn't wake up, it still concerned him. The young woman had been rushed right to the medical bay, Ratchet shooing him away right after so that he could work. He'd kept his sensors on her the entire time, worried that a possible new human contact had been lost to them before they'd even really met her. This was how he'd come to be outside the medical bay right when Ratchet was leaving.

"Ratchet?" He asked, and knew his tone held more questions behind it than he would ever voice aloud.

"She's fine, Optimus. Cheeky little thing too, insulting me like that." Though the words should have sounded annoyed the look on his medical officer's face spoke volumes. This young human fascinated and amused him, something that was a feat in and of itself. "She was quite surprised to wake up and see me there. I think it would be wise if you were to go in there and explain things to her while I go and locate some adequate clothing for her."

The red and blue bot nodded, turning to the door. "This should be an interesting meeting." He murmured before opening the door and stepping through. Vibrant blue optics widened at the look of absolute death she was giving him when he first came in the door. It quickly passed, though, leaving her looking curious and a little annoyed.

"Greetings, Margaret Madsen." He said, cheerily, watching her expression flicker back to the death glare she'd greeted him with.

"Call me Margaret one more time and I'll hack into your systems and offline you permanently." She threatened, a smile on her pale face.

He didn't doubt that she could do just as she threatened. After all, she was one of the brightest humans he knew, though they'd never been properly introduced. It was possible that she was one of the few creatures in all existence that could successfully crack through Frenzy's manic coding. There weren't even many Autobots that could boast that feat, and if she could do that then it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to believe she could get into one of their systems as well.

"Miss Madsen then." He corrected, a slight smile making itself known on his features for a moment before he turned serious again. "Do you remember what happened to you?" He was also concerned over the people that had tried to remove her from her home, especially because she'd been unknowingly working to crack a coded bit of data that had been recovered from the Hoover Dam shortly after Mission City. Being that it was done in Frenzy's style, there was no doubt that it could be something useful to the Autobots. He'd recovered the laptop that the coding was on, had even checked to see if she'd cracked the code, only to discover that she was still deeply entrapped in the little Decepticons firewalls. It wasn't totally disappointing however, since she was closer to getting through than anyone had ever gotten before.

He watched as she seemed to close in on herself, her knees drawn in against her body in what he translated as a human sign of distress. "You saved me from those thugs, pulled the top clear off of their car. I thought you were going to crush us all."

Like Ratchet before him Optimus made a low snorting sound. "We are not Decepticons. Even though they did you serious harm I would not hurt them. We are trying to protect your planet and its people, not destroy it."

"The other one said that too. Ratchet, I think he said his name was." She trailed off for a long moment, then turned striking blue-green eyes to him. "I want to know what's going on. Why did Sam give me the number for you….Autobots? What does all of this have to do with me? And most importantly, where the heck is Ratchet with those clothes, I'm cold!"

Optimus blinked his optics slowly at her outburst, sorting through her words carefully and answering her questions to the best of his ability. "I am under the impression that you were one of the four people who helped in destroying Frenzy during the battle at Hoover Dam several months ago. That is when he would have given you the frequency to use to call us, which Bumblebee must have given him before. You are dealing with a very sensitive piece of information, Miss Madsen. The code they have you sorting out was recovered from the remains of the Decepticon Frenzy, and is probably hiding data that the Autobots could use to end this war. That is likely why they were after you, either for the code itself for their own gains, or as liaisons for the Decepticons still stationed here on Earth."

Before he could answer her question about where his medical officer was, however, said bot came back through the door. Mikeala was perched on his shoulder precariously, a bundle of clothes clutched to her chest. "Mikeala wished to accompany me. Perhaps it would calm Miss Madsen down to speak with another human." He told Optimus as he carefully set the teenager on the table next to the curled up blond.

"Optimus, what did you do to her?" Ratchet snapped at him, brandishing a nearby medical tool of some sort at his leader when he realized that Maggie wasn't as well as when he'd left the room. "Leader or not I will stick my foot up your aft if you've damaged her worse than she was before."

Optimus threw his hands up defensively, taking a step back from the irate medic. He knew better than to be too close when Ratchet started into indignant fury mode. "I have done nothing to her, Ratchet. She is just recalling the events of our initial encounter. They were traumatizing at least."

The large Autobot backed away from his comrade, not liking the menacing look in his optics. This was not what he wanted to be doing right now. "Ratchet, put the tool away. Ask her yourself if you don't believe me."

"I shall, and if she answers in the affirmative, that you did do something, I will have your hide."

* * *

(Maggie)

She wasn't in the best of moods. Cold, hurting, and a little freaked out was not how she wanted to spend her day. At least she had decent clothes on now, even if they did belong to a teenager. She was really surprised to find that they wore the same size, given the slender girl's appearance. Mikeala Banes was every man's dream. Beautiful, long legged, and leaking with sex appeal. She knew, from files she'd gotten from Keller, that this woman was also a gifted mechanic and very intelligent.

"So….what happens now?" She asked the dark haired girl, hoping to gain some answers to her questions while Ratchet through a temper tantrum at the horrified looking Optimus.

"You know about them now, so you may get to stay. In the very least you'll get introduced to everyone else." Mikeala told her, not seeming the least bit disturbed by all of this. Of course, she'd been here for awhile now too.

Maggie blinked at this, finally uncurling and standing up. This was getting out of hand. She had to call work and tell them what was happening, call the cops about the break in, and find her computer. If she lost those files Keller would have her neck! So she leaned over and removed her newly acquired shoe, drawing back once she was back on both feet and flinging the thing straight at the back of Ratchet's head. It struck with a resounding thump, causing the medic to draw around with his weapons out as if he were under attack. "What was that? Where did it come from?"

Maggie sighed and waved her hands at the large medic. "Yo' fluffy, remember me?" She asked him, annoyance dripping from her voice. Her hands were once more on her hips as her temper flared at the Autobot. "First, bring me back my shoe. Then you and your huge friend there can tell me exactly what you want from me so that I can get on with my life."

Ratchet looked distinctly annoyed, more so when Mikeala started laughing. "I fail to see the humor in this. She hit me with a projectile shoe." The dark haired girl just laughed harder, falling over on the table.

Optimus actually returned her shoe to her, seeming to be grateful to her for placating the medic's fury towards him. "Miss Madsen," he started, pausing when she held her hand up to indicate he should stop.

"Just call me Maggie."

"Very well then, Maggie." His bright blue optics glowed pleasantly at her, showing that he meant her no harm. "I believe it would be safer if you were to continue your work if you had a guardian of some sort with you. If someone has come after you for the code once, they could do so again. Having this information also puts you at risk from attack, should the Decepticons learn of the existence of such files. Having an Autobot guardian would be beneficial should someone attack you again."

She looked at him for a long time, wondering rather or not he was serious. Deciding he probably was Maggie stared between him and Ratchet for a long while, choosing the calmer Optimus Prime as her first pick of guardian. "Alright then, I agree. So, who's going to be my guardian?"

"It will have to be either myself or Ratchet, as Ironhide and Bumblebee are already engaged with charges of their own." The leader said, watching with amusement as Ratchet crossed his arms across his chest in a clear show of annoyance. He definitely wouldn't be happy to have Maggie Madsen as his charge. So, it looked as if it came down to him. It was times like this he wished Jazz was still around. The warrior would have loved the chance to have a human charge, he was so enamored of their species. He sighed, finally stepping forward and offering her his open hand to climb into. "Would you like me to be your guardian, Maggie Madsen?"

* * *

That's it.  
Sorry to leave it right there, but I wanted to get this up.  
I am so on a roll right now, expect another chapter soon.  
Please Read and Review.


	3. A Guardian's Duty

Autobot in Shining Armor

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, Beast Wars, or any of the characters affiliated with either series. As always a huge thank you goes to my lovely beta Blackwing.Rose for all of her help.

Author's Notes: I was certainly surprised to see how quickly this story caught the attention of the fan fiction community. Thanks to everyone for the reviews, cookies, and wonderful comments, they have inspired me to continue working on this story. Also, I am aware that Maggie is Australian, but I have no idea how to express this in her dialogue so….yeah… Anyway, on with the next chapter.

Chapter Three: A Guardian's Duty

"_**Would you like me to be your guardian, Maggie Madsen?"**_

Maggie blinked, wide-eyed, at the Autobot leader. It was as if he'd heard her exact thoughts regarding this matter and repeated them back to her near verbatim. That wasn't nearly as disturbing as having the twenty-eight foot robot kneeling in front of her with an offered palm, patiently awaiting her answer and her sign of trust. The answer she could give him, the trust was another issue. She couldn't trust these….people…machines…whatever they were. Not until she'd spoken with a few of the higher-ups that knew them better than she did. Perhaps Secretary Keller would fill her in now that she was this involved with them.

She finally nodded, stepping forward until she stood in his large palm. The blond felt more than a little intimidated being where she was. This being could crush her with very little thought, would live longer than any human ever could. It made her feel small, and not just in the physical sense. It was as if she was near insignificant in the grand scheme of things, just a little blip of existence in the expanse of the universe. Of course, there were positive thoughts for her as well. This was the chance of a lifetime. She could interact with these beings, could see their daily interactions and learn some of their ways. Perhaps she could even learn about some of their technology and use it to better advance her understanding of things.

Large fingers curled up carefully around her as he stood up, causing Maggie to grab a hold of his index finger so that she didn't fall over. She looked around her curiously as she was brought near eye level with Optimus Prime. The view was really something, as she could see most of the base from this altitude. Of course, the electric blue eyes staring at her as she moved around carefully in his hand were also interesting. She'd met one of the Decepticons before, and had seen the burning red of his eyes. The soothing blue was so different that for a moment she wondered just how different the two factions were.

Maggie finally turned to look back at her new guardian, tilting her head to one side for a moment before asking the question that had been bothering her for awhile. "So…how am I going to explain a huge Peterbilt truck sitting in front of my apartment? Especially one as flashy as the one you turn into?"

This earned her another round of laughter from both Autobots, more so from their more even tempered leader. She watched each of them with a look of sheer confusion on her face before looking to the dark haired teen. "What's so funny? I thought it was a legitimate question."

Mikaela shrugged, watching each of them with amusement. "Autobot humor; go figure."

----------------------

(Later that day)

As it turned out Maggie didn't have to worry too much about Optimus' presence in front of her building. Her landlord had presented her with an eviction notice because of the damage done to her apartment when it was broken in to. It didn't surprise her too much, since the leech of a man had wanted her out of the building for awhile so that he could up the price on the place and lease it out again. So she packed up what was salvageable of her belongings, tucking them away into the back cab of Optimus' vehicle form. She guessed, were he really a regular Peterbilt, the space would be used for the trucker to lay out a bed to sleep in on long trips, but she wasn't really sure of all that. The large Autobot didn't complain once about her setting boxes into his interior, though she felt him shift a few times when one of them got wedged between the driver and passenger seat.

"Sorry, Optimus." She murmured for what seemed like the hundredth time as the red and blue Autobot leader shifted again under her, letting out this weird noise that she translated into being a sign of discomfort.

"I'll be fine, though we should have called Ironhide. He's better equipped for this sort of thing."

"Ironhide?" She asked quizzically. It was the second time she'd heard the name, but she still didn't know who it was.

"My weapons specialist. You will likely meet him at a later time. His vehicle form is a GMC Topkick. Though he doesn't appreciate having to haul things around, he would be better suited to this sort of move than my current form." Optimus answered immediately, sounding more than a little put out with the entire situation. She knew he was a reasonable sort of being, but even he must have his limits. She wondered now if he regretted offering to be her guardian.

"Sorry again."

"Ah, don't be. I am not blaming you, Maggie. It's just an unusual experience having something foreign to me rocking around in the back of my cab." He paused for a long while as they pulled away from the building at last, seeming to concentrate on his driving before he continued. "Where you able to collect all of your belongings?"

Maggie shifted in her seat, adjusting the seatbelt for the umpteenth time and feeling Optimus adjust it himself to accommodate her better before she answered. "Most of it, though some of my things were trashed beyond repair. Nothing I couldn't replace, but it still makes me mad. That guy ruined equipment that it took me forever to find, and even longer to save up the money to get."

"What sort of equipment?" He asked, a curious rumble echoing just beneath his words.

"Signal distorter, frequency analysis computers, specialized equipment that helped me with my work." She told him, not wanting to go into too much technical jargon for fear of boring him with it.

"Were you using it for the project you have currently?"

"Yeah…" Where was he going with this train of questioning anyway, she wondered.

"It is…possible…that we have what you need at the base." He ventured carefully, almost like he was treading a line that she couldn't see, but was clear as day to him. She couldn't figure out what he was trying to ask her, and so backtracked through their conversation for the answer.

It came suddenly a little while later. "Oh!" She slapped her hands down on the seat to either side of her body, earning a flinch from the Autobot. "Sorry!" She told him, patting the seat soothingly as if that would help undo the harsh action. "I think I know where you're going with this. Optimus, are you telling me that you want me to stay on base?"

"It was…actually a request. You have nowhere else you could go, correct? And you need this equipment anyway to do your work, so it makes more sense for you to stay where you can get access to it easily."

Maggie stared hard at the steering wheel, not appreciating the fact that he thought she had nowhere else to go, though it was true. She thought of several ways in which she could deal with him for that one, most of which required her to hack into his systems.

"You are angry with me. Why?" He asked her, knocking her out of her dark thoughts because his tone was the same one he used when Ratchet had been angry at him before. "What have I done that offended you?"

She put her hands on the steering wheel, still glaring at it for all she was worth. "It isn't considered very polite to point out something like that, Optimus. I know I don't have very many options because of this, but I could find somewhere else to stay if I had the time to look. You made it sound like I would just be stuck out on the streets to fend for myself."

"I am sorry, Maggie Madsen." And he sounded generally sorry as he said it, darn him. It made her not want to remain angry at him, though he deserved her wrath for botching that one.

"Fine, I forgive you. Try and run things through your processors before you say them, else next time I might pull a Ratchet on you and start threatening you with large pointy objects."

The vehicle under her vibrated with the rumble of his laughter, bringing a smile to the blonde's face. Granted, she wouldn't really chase him with some large pointy object, so it was kind of funny to think about.

"Even if I am here a thousand years I'll never understand your species."

"That's what makes us interesting, Prime." She told him, a grin finally spreading out across her face. Perhaps she could get used to this after all.

------  
Meh, shortness.  
Sorry about that folks. The next one will be longer, I promise.  
As always, please read and review.


	4. A Tale to Tell

Autobot in Shining Armor

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, Beast Wars, or any of the characters affiliated with either series. As always a huge thank you goes to my lovely beta Blackwing.Rose for all of her help.

Chapter Four: A Tale to Tell

What was it, she wondered, that kept her coming back to this same chain of coding over and over? There wasn't the slightest hint to it that it could be something important to her work, and yet this would be the umpteenth time she'd returned to it, examining the chain over and over again as if it would yield some new secret that it had withheld the time before. Her brow furrowed as she tried to puzzle out the answer, which continued to elude her.

"Are you well, Maggie?"

She sat bolt upright in her seat, knocking her head against the window in the process. "Ow!" She yelled, rubbing the back of her head. She felt the large semi wince under her, and knew that he'd been just as hurt by the knock as she had. "Sorry, Optimus. I guess I just got too involved in my work again."

It was her habit, as of late, to lock herself inside the well heated interior of Optimus Prime and continue her work well past what the fussy medic usually wanted to allow her. She'd been staying at the Autobot's base for around a week now, and still had yet to meet everyone. According to Optimus, Ironhide and Bumblebee were both on assignment with charges and she wouldn't be able to meet either of them for at least another week.

The Topkick was traveling with his charge, Captain Will Lennox, to some remote destination in the Rockies. Some sort of family camping trip, she figured. She had been…briefed…on Ironhide. He was the weapons specialist of the Autobots, and one of their best soldiers. His main weapon was some form of partical cannon, though he favored several other large guns as well. He was short tempered and trigger happy, unless you knew him well enough. Personally, Maggie had no desire to ever be left alone with the ornary sounding Autobot.

Now technically, she had met the Autobot Bumblebee and his charge Sam Witwicky. The boy she'd met when she'd taken a helecopter with him to get to the Hoover Dam. He'd had to placate the huge yellow transformer once they'd arrived, since Sector 7 were trying to freeze him so that they could study him like they'd been doing to Megatron. The very thought made her shudder in fear.

"Maggie?"

The blond haired anylist sighed, finally coming out of her thoughts. "What?" She asked him, her voice coming out in an annoyed huff, which he didn't deserve.

"It is nearly three in the morning. Should you not be getting some sleep?" Optimus rumbled, his deep voice causing the seat around her to vibrate slightly.

She blinked, looking at her wrist watch for a long moment before realizing he was right. "I probably should. I didn't realize that much time had passed." Maggie streached in her seat, rubbing at her back when a muscle pulled painfully. "I don't suppose you'd let me sleep here, would you?"

The deep sound of his laughter drifted into the cab, drawing a grin onto the blond's face as well. Optimus Prime was easy to get along with most of the time, and he at least treated her with some form of respect. Ratchet tended to go all mother hen on her, at least when she tried to stay up for more than a certain amount of time without stopping to rest. She often lost track of time, and it wasn't uncommon to find herself in the situation she was in now. Three a.m. and she was still trying to work. Her body told her that she needed to rest, and she didn't ignore it.

"Quit laughing, I was being serious." She grumbled, crossing her arms across her chest and glaring at the steering wheel.

"I know you were, Maggie, I know you were. It was not my intention to insult you." He told her, the rumble of his motor tempting her to sleep right where she was despite any protests he may be about to make. While she thought of it, that was exactly what she was going to do.

* * *

(Optimus)

He hadn't realized the hour was so late, nor had he realized just how exhausted his charge was until his scanners had picked up on the signs of fatigue in her system. He was being lax in his duty as her guardian, and that wasn't something he could afford to do. Maggie was his responsibility, both to protect and to see to her welfare. It meant he had to be extremely observant of her general health and state of mind. Letting her work herself to the brink of collapse certainly wasn't fulfilling that role.

He removed himself from his thoughts after that, realizing that something was amiss. Maggie wasn't speaking to him anymore, though she'd seemed ready a moment before to bite his head off for laughing at her. "Maggie?" He asked softly, not wanting to startle her in case she was just doing as he was--thinking. He waited a few moments for her to respond, and grew increasingly concerned when she failed to do so. "Maggie?" He tried it again, only louder this time. When silence met him again he turned his sensors inward and cast his holoform, only to be confronted with Maggie Madsen's sleeping form in his passenger's seat.

Optimus found himself startled at his discovery, realizing finally that his charge had been very serious in her request to sleep where she was. He let his holoform disappear back where it came from and slowly inched forward towards the area that their human companions usually slept when they were visiting. It felt strange, knowing she was sleeping in his cab and that he was completely unable to do anything about it. He wasn't going to wake her, as he wasn't so stupid as to wake a sleeping femme. Their wrath tended to be terrible, and he had no wish to fight with Maggie.

He imagined he looked quite amusing, inching along as he was, but he didn't want to wake his charge. He finally realized why Bumblebee was so odd when either Mikaela or Sam were sleeping inside of him; it was the strangest sensation one could have. He had heard the young spy refer to them as 'precious cargo' several times when this had happened, but knew it was because of his close bond with the Witwicky boy.

The Autobot commander had nearly made it over to the human side of the base when he heard a voice call out to him from across the way. "Optimus, sir, what are you doing? You look like you're in some form of pain. Should I call Ratchet?" The voice belonged to Bumblebee, who was not supposed to be returning to base for another few days. The large Peterbilt sighed loudly, settling himself to talk with the youngling.

"I am well, Bumblebee. I have a new charge who is currently recharging in my cabin, so I must move easily so as not to wake her."

The yellow Autobot shifted forms, into the Camaro that his vehicle form was. He changed over from speaking, as his vocal processors still weren't back to full functionality. His next words came out brokenly, shifting from speaking to brief clips on the radio. "Who is she, Optimus, and why is she….." He changed over. "Sleeping like a rock." The radio trilled pleasantly, giving off a line from the song '_Jesus Take the Wheel'_. Bumblebee had come a long way from only being able to use his radio to communicate, but he still wasn't able to talk all the time--it caused him pain.

It took him a minute to translate the broken words, but his processors finally figured it out and he answered. "Margaret Madsen was the anaylist that detected Frenzy's hacking signal, and she was also the one who helped destroy him at the Hoover Dam. She was in the room when you were unfrozen, though at the time I think you were too frightened to notice anyone but the guards and Sam."

The Camaro shuddered at the mention of the Hoover Dam, shifting around a little bit as he tried to form the words he wanted to say. "I remember…She came in with Sam…" His vocal processors cut out then and he let out a loud rumbling sound in annoyance. No matter how long Ratchet worked on them, the vocals never seemed to come back online. This was a problem, since his scout was a very articulate bot. Optimus actually felt bad for him, even though he seemed to be adjusting well to not being able to speak.

The large red and blue Autobot shook his head, focusing on the second question he had to answer. "As to why she's sleeping in my passenger's seat…Well, she fell asleep there. I was on my way to settle her into bed for the night. I admit to not wanting to wake her--she does work herself too hard at times."

"You are concerned that she will….work herself too hard…" He managed, beginning to roll alongside his commander. The yellow bot was a fighter, to be certain, but the inability to speak--even to warn someone of imminent danger-- often times caused severe fluctuations in his moods.

Optimus shook his head again, focusing several of his sensors inward to monitor the sleeping pattern of his charge. He'd noticed already that she recharged in a somewhat sporadic pattern, often waking seven or eight times during the night and pacing across her quarters until she was too tired to remain conscious any longer. This he'd discovered only recently, when his own restlessness had him roaming the base in search of something to ease his mind. It didn't help things that he was concerned for her health. If she didn't get a proper recharge at night he knew about it the next day because she would be irritable and almost anemic in her actions.

This past week had been a concentration of learning curves, many of them centering around the accommodation of Miss Maggie Madsen. It wouldn't be very professional if she were to wake before him and wander alone, especially not in a base full of high strung soldiers. He'd figured out she rose early on the second day of her stay, when Ratchet informed him that he'd been keeping an eye on Maggie for nearly two hours already. Optimus usually woke at around 7:00 or 7:30, depending on how much sleep he'd had the night before. It meant that his charge rose even earlier than he did, which rarely happened.

They continued on in silence for the rest of their short journey, and soon Maggie was placed safely in her own quarters where she would hopefully sleep for the rest of the night. He was only just beginning to realize what it truly meant to have a charge. It wasn't just protecting them from harm. It was worrying when they weren't sleeping right or when something upset them, it was scooting along at an unbearably slow pace just so they wouldn't wake. It was in long talks late at night, and in figuring out that human sarcasm was so confusing a thing that it made them laugh when you didn't get it. All in all, being her guardian meant he'd made a highly intelligent ally for his team, and perhaps a new friend for him some day. She was still new to him, new to the knowledge of what he was, but she was adapting remarkably well. He had faith that come hell or high water, as the humans said, she was there to stay.

* * *

That's it.  
Sorry for taking so long to get this out, I've been really busy with school the last few weeks. My teacher gave us two major projects that are due this week, so I've been in the library every night for the last two weeks. Well, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you next time.


	5. Siren's Call

Autobot in Shining Armor

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, Beast Wars, or any of the characters affiliated with either series. As always a huge thank you goes to my lovely beta Blackwing.Rose for all of her help.

Chapter Five: Siren's Call

"Oh holy _**SHITE**_!"

It was bound to happen sooner or later. After all, she was in possession of some very sensitive information, something that could possibly land a fatal blow against the Decepticon army. It wasn't like she hadn't expected it to happen, she had just hoped it would hold off until after she'd actually cracked through the firewalls of coding surrounding her project. It was so sudden, so frighteningly sudden, that she almost disregarded what was happening before her mind had time to form a coherent thought around her.

Maggie didn't venture very far from the base, especially unescorted, but she'd been insistent on needing a little time away from giant robots and over sensitive yellow Camaros. So she'd begged Optimus to bring her to her favorite coffee shop on the other side of Tranquility, and after nearly two hours of promising that she'd be safe there, he'd relented and brought her over. Of course, said Peterbilt was also parked out front as her ever stalwart guardian.

So how had she ended up this way? Oh right, she'd snuck out the back to get away from the nearly oppressive protectiveness of the Autobot's leader. Which was why she was running away from a police class Ford Saleen in a pair of high heeled boots. She hadn't thought anything of the black and white car when she'd passed its parked position at the end of the alleyway, she had only wanted to take a walk around the building before doubling back and returning to her seat before Optimus realized she'd given him the slip.

Maggie knew she'd never be so stupid again, considering the circumstances her wandering off had landed her into. Her back had been to the Saleen, she hadn't suspected a thing, until he'd spoken to her. In that moment, as she rushed along, she remembered what had prompted this in the first place.

_**-Twenty Minutes Earlier-**_

"Finally, a little peace and quiet." The Australian born analyst murmured, stretching her arms over her head until she heard a reassuring little pop as a stressed muscle loosened. She felt liberated, if a little guilty for sneaking off like some erstwhile teenager. Optimus had trusted her word that she would be safe in the coffee shop, that she wouldn't wander from the comforting smells of that familiar place. Instead she'd pretended like she had to use the restroom at the earliest believable opportunity and snuck away with Prime none the wiser.

If she just went around the back and returned the way she came he'd never know she had broken her promise, and she would have had a few moments of unobserved freedom. Her plan was foolproof. At least it was, before she passed the cop at the end of the ally.

"Salutations, fleshling." He chirped, sounding uncannily pleased with himself.

Maggie turned around then, her mouth falling open like a fish once pulled from the water. "Did you….Did you just talk?" She asked the Ford, feeling a sinking sensation in the general direction of her stomach as she asked the question.

"My, you are a perceptive one." Sarcasm laced the words this time, accompanied by a low roaring from the engine. The black and white rolled forward just a little, still out of sight of those on the main part of the street. There seemed to be a moment of consideration as to what it was going to do exactly, before the distinctive sound of the transformation sequence sounded, causing Maggie to shriek and leap backwards.

The being before her wasn't nearly as physically impressive as Optimus, but then he didn't have to be. At twenty three feet he still towered over her, and the blazing red eyes that bore into her own blue-green ones looked as if the very fires of hell were fueling them. The barrel of some sort of particle weapon was leveled at her face as he spoke again, that same nameless hint of an accent that all the Transformers seemed to have turning his otherwise cultured voice hostile. "Now, fleshling, I want what's in that primitive little computer of yours, and you are going to give it to me. If you play your hand right, you may yet live to see the next pitiful day of your existence. Refuse me, and we'll see how long you can survive being turned into an organic rag doll."

She bolted. It didn't matter that her boots had three inch heels, it didn't matter that she'd left her computer safely back at base with Ratchet. She just had to get away from this creature, had to make it back to Optimus before he caught her. Otherwise, she knew she was as good as dead. Decepticons did not take prisoners, no matter what this one may have been implying.

_**-Present-**_

Maggie tore around the corner, ignoring the looks of confusion and annoyance the other pedestrians leveled at her as she ran through their ranks. The looks turned into mass panic as the black and white Decepticon came barreling around the corner, guns blazing. She had been hoping he wouldn't follow her out here, that he would be like most of the Autobots were and not want to reveal himself to the general public. Shoot down that theory. People were running full tilt from where he'd spilled out onto the main street, cars veering around his massive form or simply plowing into one another as the traffic was forced to a stop.

"Optimus!" She yelled over the chaos that surrounded the Decepticon's arrival, searching frantically for where she'd left her guardian parked. "_**OPTIMUS**_!" Her voice rose in pitch and volume as she repeated the Autobot's name, finally hearing her own returned over the screaming of the crowd. He knew she needed his help, but couldn't get enough room around him to transform. He was stuck. Stuck by his own ideals and the panic of the crowd. Too many people were crammed in close to his general proximity. If he transformed now, at least a dozen of them would be crushed, then he would be the one they were running from. For now, at least, she was on her own.

* * *

(Optimus)

He couldn't believe the sort of luck his charge had. How could someone so small and so nonthreatening as Maggie draw the sort of chaos to her that usually only followed the extremely destructive or the extremely powerful? Even extensive inquiries of this through his main processor yielded little to nothing insightful to this question. For now, he needed to get through this crush of bodies and find his charge. He'd heard her call, distinctly heard the tremble in her voice as she'd tried to find him. With the crush of bodies all around him, there was little he could do to aid her, and this frustrated him more than the mass chaos around him. Chaos that, he knew, had to be caused by a Decepticon.

There was the loud blast of sirens from somewhere nearby, followed by the distinct sound of a tiny body hitting something solid at an extreme velocity. Optimus inwardly winced, knowing that whoever it had been was likely dead from that. He silently prayed to Primus that the one involved wasn't his charge. It wouldn't do to loose her now, not when she was finally getting used to being around he and his team. They did not have so many friends that they could not stand to have another, and Maggie was his to protect. He took that duty as seriously as any of his other duties, and knew that he may one day have to make a choice between protecting his charge and saving his people.

There was another blare of sound, and the humans around him parted like the Red Sea. The yellow Hummer currently weaving its way into the parting crowd was certainly a sight for sore optics. Thank Primus for Ratchet! How the medic had known something was amiss he would never know, but he'd be thanking the cantankerous bot for days after this one. Especially if it meant he could get enough clearance to transform and find Maggie. Worried didn't begin to describe how unnerved he was after hearing something crunch against a wall. There were few things to draw that sort of wince from the war hardened leader, and he believed finding Maggie Madsen dead would turn out to be one of them.

Ratchet cleared the area for him to transform, and he finally knew what had brought the medic down to the city. Maggie was standing to his left, and moved back when the yellow Autobot transformed to give his aid. Once he was settled on his own two feet he gave his charge a cursory look over, noting silently that there was a trail of drying internal fluids running sluggishly down the right side of her pale face. Whatever she'd been through while he was unable to assist her looked as if it had scared her to death.

Optimus let out a relieved sigh once he discovered that she was mostly undamaged, turning his gaze to his medical officer. "Ratchet?"

The medic sort of weaved on his feet, though not in a bad way. He seemed almost like he was furious, which didn't make any sense in this case. Ratchet tolerated Maggie only at the best of times, and rarely offered to escort her. With the fury coming off of him now, though, Optimus wondered if something more was going on than what he saw.

"It's Barricade, sir."

It wasn't the calculating soldier's name that made his medic flinch, nor was it the fact that Maggie looked like she was about to be sick. There was something much worse going on, as he was soon to discover.

* * *

(Maggie)

Run, run, _**RUN**_! It was all she could do, all she could think of doing. With Optimus pinned down by the crushing force of the crowd it was all there was for her. Run and hope that someone could get the Peterbilt clear, run and pray that someone was paying attention to what was going on down in Tranquility.

Maggie felt a rush of air against her back, and knew the Decepticon had made an swipe at her, only missing her because his hand collided with the person running along behind her. She winced as she saw the man's head connect with a brick wall before he went through it, but didn't stop to see if he was alright. That sort of force, that sickening sound, there was no way. Blond hair streamed out behind her as she kept moving, even though her lungs were beginning to burn with the need for rest. How in the world did Sam manage this? Hadn't he been the one playing touch football with the Decepticons' leader during Mission City?

The roaring of the engine behind her pushed any sort of thoughts of stopping out of her mind, especially when she felt the earth beneath her feet shake with the force of his footsteps. "OH SHITE!" She repeated again, trying to make her body move faster in her heels. If she lived through this, she swore she'd never wear heels again. Tennis shoes all the time, in case she ever had to run away from the Decepticons again. She certainly hoped she wouldn't be repeating this experience, but one could never be too careful.

The world swam before her eyes for a moment as the street churned under her, a piece of debris from someone's broken windshield whipping up with the force of footsteps behind her. It cut across her face, leaving a wash of hot pain behind it. She ignored the sensation, too scared to even stop and wipe her face. She had to blink blood from her eye, since the shard had sliced right to her forehead. She was lucky it hadn't taken her eye out with it, and vowed to thank god for that little miracle later.

Two monstrous sized hands slammed into the ground to either side of her, finally toppling her off her feet. She landed with a hard thud against the torn up concrete, staring up as death himself hovered over her with his gun pointed at her fragile form.

"Once more, fleshling. Give up Frenzy's data."

Perhaps, in that moment, she lost her mind, because the words that came out of her mouth in one quick rush should never have left her head. "Frenzy? You mean that manic, ADD ridden thing that decided it wanted to Frisbee everyone to death?"

There was a long pause from the creature above her, almost like he was considering what she was talking about, before the red of his eyes turned an even darker shade and his voice dropped to a low, hissing octave. "_**You**_ were the one that killed Frenzy."

The gun charged fully, the rotating lights within the cannon rising to an almost blinding frequency. Just before she thought the world would end a massive Gyro saw sliced through the air, the whirring sound that proceeded it sounding harsh as reality came back to her. The Saleen was up and away from her in a shot, falling back to have a better striking position to her savior.

If there was ever a time she was happier to see someone, she couldn't recall it. Right now, the only thing she was thinking, was how happy she was to see Ratchet rolling up right then. He wasn't even transformed yet, and he'd managed to make the monster back off of her.

"Ratchet!" She called from her prone position, still unable to move on her own. Shock and pain warred with her general need to get up and get the hell out of there. Nothing on her part was getting her unresponsive body to move, and so she could only call out to the Hummer and hope he realized she was the one lying there.

Concerned electric blue eyes stared down at her a moment later, set into a distinguished male's face. She assumed this was Ratchet's holoform, since Optimus had told her that most of his team had one. Her gaze was narrowed to the blue of his eyes, since she was too shocked to really mind anything else. She did notice that he had black hair as well, and that said hair was streaked with thin strings of grey.

She felt someone lifting her up, felt her body being shifted out of the crater the black and white had made around her, but couldn't respond. For awhile she just lost time, coming in and out of focus until something cold pressed against her head. Her eyes finally came back into focus, and she was able to stare up at the briskly professional Ratchet as he fussed over her. The cold on her head was a compress, and he seemed to be partially finished tending to the wound on her head.

Maggie reached her hand up and stopped his movements, earning her his attention and a concerned glare. She shook her head at the obvious question he was trying to ask, realizing for the first time that each of the Autobots looked after the charges of the others in their own way. The only reason Ratchet had arrived when he did, was because he'd insisted she have a tracking device on her at all times. It hadn't even occurred to her that the small thing she kept stashed in her ear would alert the medic when something was going on, or that he'd be watching over her when she was usually safe with Optimus.

She gave him a watery smile, finally sitting up even though her head was threatening to explode. "Thanks for the help, Ratchet."

"Think nothing of it, Maggie Madsen. If you are well enough to rise, then we must go. Barricade is still loose in Tranquility, and Optimus will need our help." He paused, leveling a harsh stare at her. "And just what were you doing so far from his side in the first place? I had assumed you would be smart enough to remain where you could be safe, and instead I find you alone trying to fend off a slaggin' Decepticon."

His words were spoken calmly, though the radiating emotion coming off of him was not. He was angry with her, angry with Optimus too, most likely. In general, though, he was just doing what came naturally to someone wired the way he was. He was trying to heal her, to ease away what pains her near brush with death had caused. For that, and that alone, she would acknowledge that she'd done wrong.

The holoform blipped from existence then, leaving her sitting on the gurney in the back of the ambulance as he went to search for his leader. For now the Decepticon had fallen back, probably transformed back into the police issue Saleen so that he could blend into the background. Maggie noticed that her laptop had been brought along, and pulled the screen up that she'd been working on. Something clicked in her head, returned her to the stream of data that had been giving her fits for days.

She typed in the Cybertronian equivalent of asking for a password box, then paused before entering the words as they came to her mind. If this came from Frenzy, and the big guy had been watching him all that time, then perhaps…

B-A-R-R-I-C-A-D-E

The screen went black after she'd hit the enter button, buzzing to life a moment later as the information finally issued forth. A second, longer password box popped up, and she just ran with the idea that she'd gotten. "To protect from harm, to block the way from those that would pursue in harm." She hit enter again and took a low breath. That was it. This entire time, the word, the thing that would get through the streams and streams of data, was the name of the one Frenzy had trusted the most. The hacker's password was the name of his partner.

* * *

Blah and blah again!  
I'm sorry if this chapter is crap, its my first time writing for Barricade.  
I decided to do this in a continuation, and the next chapter will probably pick up right around here.  
As always, please read and review.


	6. Reasons

Autobot in Shining Armor

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, Beast Wars, or any of the characters affiliated with either series. As always a huge thank you goes to my lovely beta Blackwing.Rose for all of her help.

Chapter Six: Reasons

* * *

"_**It's Barricade, sir." **_

Barricade, the Decepticon with the form of a police interceptor, had finally resurfaced. He'd disappeared just before the battle of Mission City, and his status had been marked as unknown for a long while. Now he'd resurfaced in Tranquility, the city that the Autobots considered to be their home. Worse, in his initial reappearance he'd attacked Maggie Madsen, a human that was under the protection of Optimus Prime himself.

If all this wasn't enough, then the data that Miss Madsen had uncovered only a few minutes ago would surely put it over the line. He had seen it himself when she'd first discovered it within the volumes of scrambled data Frenzy had encoded and knew what it could mean. The very thought of it had his spark turning cold in his chest.

He finally shook himself from his thoughts and gave his leader the full weight of his gaze. With both of them now transformed and Maggie safely hidden away where she would be beyond Barricade's grasp it was time to give Optimus the news. Primus help them all if what they'd found was true.

"We need to get to a secure location, Optimus sir. Miss Madsen has discovered something that could be the deciding factor in this war. It also explains several things to me as I'm sure it will for you, including why Barricade sought her out and what those men were after when they attacked her at her apartment."

His words gained him his leader's attention, the electric blue optics focusing on him intently as if telling him to go on. The medic kept his sensors wide open for any sign of the Decepticon hunter. The last thing they needed was for the ruthless Saleen to come across them while they were speaking. If his assumption was correct, and it probably was, then Barricade had no idea what had been in that data. He'd probably just been told to protect Frenzy, and thus when the data was discovered to be from said minibot the larger Decepticon had taken the offensive.

They moved from where they'd been standing in front of the coffee shop Maggie had gone into earlier in the day, quickly stopping to locate the blond haired femme before heading towards an abandoned warehouse they were both familiar with. There they transformed again, ready to fight in case Barricade showed back up.

"Ratchet." Optimus' voice held all the questions he did not ask, and the tone suggested that he was a little impatient to hear what was going on. After all, this did concern his young charge, and he'd taken to guardianship very well.

The medic gestured for Maggie to come over to them, his scanners straining even more as the vulnerable human woman came where she could very easily be destroyed. The blood from her head injury had dried in a brownish line down one side of her face, making the white pallor of her skin stand out even more. Ratchet cursed himself internally for allowing her to dissuade him from finishing his examination of her. She needed to be cleaned up and given an antibacterial for her injuries. Being in this filthy place wasn't helping matters any.

Maggie Madsen was an exceptional human, he'd give her that, but she was stubborn to a fault. Reminded him very strongly of another exceptional someone he knew, actually. To stand against unimaginable odds, despite the situation not being in her favor, was a very brave and admirable thing to do. Continuing to help them even though she now knew that it meant that the Decepticons were going to be after her took more courage than even most Autobots he knew had. This news was not good, and he didn't envy her having to give it. He watched as she drew herself up straight, ignoring any lingering pain in her body and speaking in a clear voice as she presented their discovery to Optimus Prime.

"If the data we've got is correct, then we've got a big problem on our hands. Megatron wasn't killed at Mission City."

* * *

(Optimus)

"Megatron wasn't killed at Mission City."

The words shuddered through his large frame, gripping his spark with a cold hand that threatened the stability he'd achieved. Their greatest enemy, the one he'd thought completely destroyed along with the All Spark, and he could possibly still be alive. It didn't make any sense, didn't want to process through his head. How could anyone have survived having the All Spark thrust into their spark?

"What? How…?" His reeling processors wouldn't allow him more than those words. He was still trying to sort through the first part of this news.

He watched his charge as she started preparing her data into a set stream of words, and silently congratulated her on her ability to remain level headed even in a possibly hostile situation. Before she could answer the slew of questions he was ready to present her with, however, they were faced with an even bigger problem. Because it was then, when Maggie was finally ready to speak, that Barricade reappeared. The black and white Decepticon busted through the already unstable wall to Ratchet's left, his cannons already blazing.

Ratchet rolled into a defensive crouch and returned fire, his saw appearing on his other hand and slashing at the Saleen when he got close enough. His medical officer was no warrior, didn't have the spark for it, but he could fight when he was forced to.

Optimus also returned fire, though he did it in a protective stance over his young charge. "Maggie, get behind me." He ordered, barely having the time to notice that she followed his directions before Barricade was on him. The hunter had temporarily removed Ratchet from the fight, and his intent was plain in his blood colored eyes. Whatever the information was that Maggie had, whatever news there was of Megatron, the Decepticons didn't want the Autobot forces finding it out. This meant that, if given the chance, the black and white hunter would kill Maggie and destroy her computer to get rid of the data it contained.

Close range like this he had the advantage, being of superior height and build, but Barricade was faster. He kept his guard up, making certain that the Decepticon in front of him couldn't get around him to his charge. That was not something he wished to deal with. There would be no taking hostages with this mech. No indeed. Barricade was good at what he did, and the Saleen was one of the best warriors his side had. Ruthless and cunning, he was not one you wanted to underestimate in a battle. The black and white liked playing mind games, enjoyed toying with his victims right up until the point he destroyed them.

* * *

(Maggie)

She knew to keep clear of the fighting, knew that she'd only be in the way. After all, what good was a five and a half foot computer analyst against beings that ranged between twenty-two to forty feet in height? Not much at all. All she could do is watch as her guardian fended off the smaller transformer, watch and pray that their side won.

As the two robots circled one another warily Maggie moved back from them, not wanting to be in Optimus' way if things got ugly. Besides, she already had her share of bumps and bruises from the last time she'd squared off against Barricade. She so wasn't looking forward to a repeat experience. So she kept a close eye on both of them, moving when she had to in order to remain behind the protective bulk of Optimus Prime.

She eventually made her way over to Ratchet, concerned when the medic hadn't gotten back up after a few minutes. "Ratchet?" She ventured, her accent becoming thick in her voice as she called the medic's name. "Come on, fluffy, wake up." She coaxed him, patting her tiny hand on his nose to try and get him to wake up. She owed the yellow Autobot her life, and she didn't like the fact that he'd gotten hurt trying to defend her. He shouldn't have had to come for her, and wouldn't have even been here if she had just stayed with Optimus like she was supposed to.

"I'm sorry, big guy. I'm really sorry." She told him, staying hidden behind his bulk in case Barricade managed to get past Optimus. "Just wake up again and I swear I'll never sneak away from Optimus again." She promised, still tapping at the medic's nose. He wasn't her guardian, he didn't have the sort of understanding of her that the semi did, but she did count him as one of her friends. At least, she thought they were getting to be friends, they certainly got on well enough. On the day that she'd woken far ahead of Optimus he'd let her sit with him in the medical bay and they'd spoken at length about her work and his.

A loud crashing sound came from behind her, and Maggie managed to hide herself under one of Ratchet's massive hands before the roof came down on top of everything. She wasn't positive, but she was pretty sure Barricade had just shot it out. Of course, all her ponderings were lost when she got back up because the Decepticon in question was clear of the debris. He stalked towards her, a feral glint to his eyes like a jungle cat on the hunt.

"Now then, fleshling." He purred, his movements slowing as he got closer to her. "For the last time, give up Frenzy's data." He circled around her, caging her in. There was nowhere for her to go, nowhere for her to run. Her guardian was down, her only other hope of aid still unconscious. All she could do was stand there and stare in horror at the massive mechanical monster that was circling her like a shark circles its prey.

"_Oh shite…"_

Despite the fact that she was scared to death, despite everything being stacked against her, Maggie still managed to hold her head up and give the huge transformer the one finger salute. "Fuck you, ass wipe."

It took him a minute to respond, probably because he had to look up what she'd just said to him before a low growling reached her ears. "You will regret that, human." His voice held such contempt in it that it actually made her shudder. He had no qualms about killing her, nor would her death be a quick one. She tried to run, but he proved to be too quick for her.

Before she could even process what had happened she found herself staring into blazing crimson eyes from feet away. The look he was giving her told her, quite plainly, that he was about to kill her in a very painful way. Without one of the Autobots there to help her, Maggie was going to die.

As she was held in his brutal grip, trying frantically to get enough air into her lungs to call for her guardian. There had to be some way to stop this, to end the nightmare before it became reality. She didn't want to die, but she also didn't want to disappoint her guardian. If she was going to go down, then by God she'd go down fighting.

"You are…such a…coward." She wheezed, feeling his grip on her tighten to the point where she knew her ribs were going to be broken soon.

"What was that, _insect_?" He sneered, bringing her back from him enough that she could see his whole face and not just his burning eyes.

"You…heard…me.." She told him, staring defiantly at him despite the fact that the world was beginning to blur at the edges. His punishing hold was cutting off her airways, making it harder to breathe.

The black and white growled at her again, his grip tightening until she felt bones finally crack under the strain. She couldn't help herself, she started screaming. All through it the Decepticon just stared at her and chuckled darkly. He was enjoying torturing her! Something else within her broke and she finally felt herself loosing consciousness. Just as the blissfulness of unconsciousness overtook her mind Maggie swore she heard the most ungodly roar of fury from somewhere just beyond her sight. But then her eyes had rolled back, her body left to the mercy of the merciless Barricade.

* * *

Yep, that's it.  
Sorry for stopping it here.  
As always, read and review.


	7. Never cross an Autobot

* * *

Autobot in Shining Armor

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, Beast Wars, or any of the characters affiliated with either series. As always a huge thank you goes to my lovely beta Blackwing.Rose for all of her help.

Author's Notes: Sorry for the delay, I've been busy getting ready for my finals. Finals are still about a week away, but I felt like this needed to be put up. Hopefully I'll have the next one up pretty soon. Thank you for your patience and please enjoy the fic.

AN2: There are a few notes at the bottom of the chapter to help clear up a few things in this chapter.

Warnings: Contains violence and mild OOCness.

* * *

Chapter Seven: Never cross an Autobot

* * *

He'd been careless. He had underestimated Barricade's willingness to do whatever it took to get a job done, and it had cost him. He had thought the Saleen was ready to get out of there and backed off to allow him to do so. Instead he'd given the hunter enough room to use his long range weapon and shoot out the ceiling. As several tons of concrete and plaster came tumbling down around them he frantically prayed that Maggie was somewhere that she wasn't going to be crushed. One of the larger pieces of concrete struck him across the back of the head and he went down. For awhile he knew nothing more, but was then jolted back into consciousness by the pained screaming coming from his charge.

He wasn't sure how he got clear of the debris, nor how he'd gotten across the room so fast that Barricade hadn't had the time to react. He'd grabbed the Decepticon by the neck with one massive hand, and he couldn't even recall how he'd gotten to this point. It was all a blur of pure rage in his mind. He could vaguely remember a chilling roar echoing from his person, the sound made all the more frightening because of the roar of his engine. For some reason he didn't fear this change in himself. He remembered having gotten this way once before, when Megatron ripped Bumblebee's vocal processor clean out of his body. At the time he'd been so pissed off that it hadn't mattered that the Decepticon leader was larger than he was or that he was already gravely injured, he'd handed Megatron his aft.(1)

Now, with a cold rage settling into his processors, Optimus could only think of one thing to do. He was going to tear the Saleen apart, protocol be damned. It was sheer stupidity to attack one of the Autobot's charges, suicide to attack the charge of Prime himself. Even Bumblebee had admitted to getting particularly nasty with the Decepticon hunter when Sam was in danger, something he hadn't understood at the time.

Optimus Prime was not normally a violent mech. Under normal circumstances he appalled such extreme violence, but these were not normal circumstances. The black and white had crossed a line that had been made very clear when Bumblebee had taken on Sam Witwicky as his charge. There was something about these humans that caused the Autobots to become almost violently protective of them. Even he, the leader of the Autobots, was not immune to this strange phenomenon.

His hand twitched reflexively where he still held Barricade by the neck, his focus returning to the task at hand. The hunter was completely still, as if he was waiting for something. Maggie was still clutched in his unrelenting hand, her fragile body lying limp. He gave her a brief scan and was relieved to find that she'd merely passed out. Perhaps the Saleen wouldn't have to die after all.

"That was a _**bad**_ idea." He bit out lowly, mildly startled that he sounded so similar to Megatron during a bad day. He and his brother shared many common traits, but he hadn't thought this was one of them. Optimus had always stubbornly believed that the malevolent energy that surrounded the larger mech was a result of him being who and what he was. It also occurred to him that he'd used these same words before, both with Maggie and with Sam.

His focus had narrowed down to just this moment, just this confrontation. He was much larger than the mech he now held partially aloft, but he'd seen Barricade take out mechs twice his size before and knew now not to underestimate him. He was finished giving the psychopath the benefit of the doubt. So it came as no surprise when the black and white tossed his blonde haired charge forcefully towards the wall, forcing Optimus to either drop his prisoner or loose his charge. There was no choice, but he didn't have to take it lightly.

Using as much speed and force as his frame allowed Optimus bodily chucked Barricade in the same manner as the Decepticon had done to Maggie, except he dove to catch said charge right after he'd made the motion. He barely managed to grab onto her limp form, and knew from the sickening sound she made when he did that something was wrong. The rage from before spilled forth again, rekindled by the realization that Barricade had very likely killed the one he'd promised to protect. It had been slowly seeping out of him as time had worn on, but now it was back with a vengeance. Barricade would pay, and by Primus if she died….the Saleen's life would be forfeit as well.

* * *

(Ratchet)

He came back online with a throbbing ache in his head and the distinct feeling that something terrible had happened. The part of him that the war had made into a warrior forced him to pull himself from the rubble and take a defensive stance. The stronger more natural part of his programming, the part of him that wanted to heal more than harm, gave him a very different message. While he knew that he was still in danger so long as Barricade was in the vicinity, he was still a medic and someone was injured. He could feel it.

Electric blue eyes scanned over his surroundings, a strong surge of horror hitting him when he realized that the roof had been brought down while he'd been unconscious. Was Miss Madsen trapped somewhere in all of this mess? His fear of this abated momentarily when he found her biosignature with Optimus. Despite his own injuries the medic went right to his leader's side, stopping a few paces away when he realized that something was wrong.

"Optimus, sir?"

The look he received when he spoke the larger bot's name had him flinching and moving back a step. It was a look he'd seen on Megatron many a time, usually right before he tore someone apart painfully. The look said, quite plainly, that someone was about to die. Ratchet had a pretty good idea of who that someone would be too.

Wordlessly the medic held his hand out, not surprised when a fairly lifeless Maggie Madsen was set into his offered hand. She seemed, even to his scanners, like she had gone offline permanently, her life snuffed out. A second, deeper scan, told him that she was still alive though fading. Both of the bones in the upper parts of her arms were fractured from exposure to extreme pressure, she had several cracked ribs, and there was bruising to her spinal cord that rose several alarms in his mind. If she was to survive, he needed to get her back to base.

His leader was in no mood to talk right now, and so Ratchet set straight to work repairing what injuries he could deal with in the field. He focused entirely on his work until the screaming started. He looked up in time to see Prime with his hand buried deeply into Barricade's chest, digging for his spark.

Medical training kicked in as he examined the damage done to the Decepticon with a neutral eye. There were multiple dents lining the thick black armor that made up Barricade's hide, many of these where fist shaped. Superficial injuries, mostly. The next thing he saw, however, was not so superficial. One of his optics had been shattered by what had to have been a fist to the face, his head partially caved in where Optimus must have tried to crush it. One arm hung loosely at his side, energon leaking from a severed line and dripping down onto the floor. His other hand seemed to only be partially functional, and was held in a death grip on Prime's hand where it was entered into his chest. Part of his chasis had been ripped open, and he could see the flickering pulse of the Decepticon's spark as he tried frantically to get loose. Optimus was so enraged that he was actually going to crush the hunter's spark.

He felt a sense of horror wash over him when those red optics looked to him as if he could do anything. Fear, pain, and then finally resignation settled into those optics. Barricade was a fighter, but even he knew when the situation was lost. Ratchet felt his spark turn over at the sight. Enemy or not, no one deserved to die like this. He couldn't allow this to happen, wouldn't allow his leader to cross the same line that had lead to his brother's ultimate decent into insanity.

"Optimus, you have to stop! If you continue you will extinguish his spark!"

His words were rushed out, frantic. He could still see those pleading eyes, could still see the silent message they conveyed. Images of a different time, a different mech assailed him, making him more desperate to keep this from happening. Not like this, not again. Seeing that look in a comrade's face had been horrible enough. Even reflected in an enemy's optics it still deeply disturbed him.

"Please, don't do this. Do not let your rage turn you into Megatron!" His voice became strangled, almost causing him to choke on the next words. "Don't make me watch you do to him what your insane brother did to Cliffjumper!" (2)

That seemed to get through to the enraged Autobot, because he dropped Barricade and removed himself completely from range. Said Saleen made a low sound of pain, followed by a loud roar when he forced himself into his alternate mode. It had to be the most painful transformation ever endured, and Ratchet was amazed when he not only managed to complete the transformation, but also tore out of the warehouse as if he were being chased by something Pit spawned. With the sort of injuries he'd sustained there was no way he'd survive, and it seemed as if Ratchet's plea would be for naught. Without proper medical care, and soon, Barricade's spark would go out.

Ratchet shook his head and returned his attention to Maggie. For now, he had to deal with the patient he could treat, instead of the one that would die because he wouldn't accept the aid of an Autobot. Everything else would have to be dealt with later.

* * *

Notes:

1: I believe this to have happened during one of the more violent battles the Autobot's had to fight, Tyger Pax.  
2: Also took place during Tyger Pax, and refers to Megatron doing the same thing Optimus is doing.

Again sorry for the wait.  
Hope you enjoyed the chapter.  
Please read and review.


	8. Touch and Go

Autobot in Shining Armor

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, Beast Wars, or any of the characters affiliated with either series. A huge thank you goes out to all my reviewers and to my lovely beta Blackwing.Rose for all her continued help and support.

Chapter Eight: Touch and Go

* * *

She could hear voices, familiar voices. The words didn't make any sense, but the tone in each was unmistakenable. One was worried, concern reverberating through a deep voice that was so muffled that she couldn't identify it. The second sounded mildly annoyed, the specific cadence behind it slightly warped like the first. Both voices seemed to be engaged in an argument between them, if the rising tones were of any indication. Where was she? What had happened, and why couldn't she make sense of anything she was hearing? As if in response to these thoughts the muffle lifted just slightly, allowing her to hear the conversation she'd woken up to.

"…can't believe you would do such a thing! Especially with Miss Madsen in such danger!" Hissed one voice, the one that had sounded so annoyed before. Why couldn't she place a name with the voice?

"Ratchet, I told you, I was beyond controlling myself." The worried one answered, his words controlled and calm while still carrying an underlying tone of anger.

'_So his name is Ratchet. Why does that sound so familiar?'_ She thought, while her exhausted mind and body fought to keep her awake.

"That is no excuse! She needed medical attention immediately! I couldn't move her and leave you there to become another Megatron!"

"That would not have…." The voice faded back to the muffled tone after that as she slipped back into unconsciousness once more.

* * *

(Ratchet)

He could still remember the trip back to the base. Sirens blaring, gaining speed as other vehicles moved out of the way, barely having the sense to make sure Optimus was following him as he weaved through the slower moving traffic. His professional calm had forced him to keep his head when Miss Madsen had stopped breathing halfway there, and he'd quickly downloaded everything he could find about the treatment of humans before activating his hologram. After a few tense minutes of nothing he finally got her breathing again and immediately put her on oxygen and an IV line. She'd remained stable for the rest of the trip, much to his relief.

By the time he made it back to base he'd been nearly beside himself with worry. Miss Madsen had remained stable the rest of the way there, but her injuries were more severe than his original scans had told him. On top of the multiple fractures and breaks throughout her body, the spinal bruising, the cuts and bruises inflicted on her from the initial encounter with Barricade, she had also sustained head trauma. There was no way to tell the extent of the damage, but it was enough that she may have some memory loss, or even loss of several abilities that she'd had for a long time. The only thing he really wanted was for her to actually come back online. That would be a very positive sign. It certainly would set his mind at ease.

Now, safely back in his medical bay, he was carefully treating her injuries with the full range of his medical supplies at his disposal. He'd centered his attention completely on treating the human in his care, not even noticing when his leader arrived at base some time later. It wasn't until he'd done everything he could for her that he even noticed the large mech leaning against the wall on the other side of the bay. By then he'd had time to for the horror of the situation to give way to anger. His temper had served him well in the past, helping to cast unwanted visitors from the bay and chase worried friends out without forcing them to dig in and fight back.

Ratchet stalked across the room, a wrench grabbed from one of the tables as he walked past it. If he was going to get Prime out of there he'd have to be willing to bodily remove him. Nothing short of that was going to work, he knew that from experience.

"Optimus Prime, I have a bone to pick with you." He said, calm in tone only to keep from disturbing his patient across the room.

Blue optics turned in his direction and he found himself faltering when he saw how deeply concerned his friend was. Maggie was his charge and now she had been gravely injured. Essentially, he'd failed to protect her and she had nearly paid the price because of it. It was every guardian's nightmare. The medic in him overrode his need to have his bay clear of noninjured personnel. The medic let out a low sigh and pushed his anger to the side, coming to place his hand on the shoulder of the taller bot.

"She will be fine. She's a resilient human, we've all seen that." He soothed, relieved when he saw some of the tension ease from massive shoulders.

"How badly is she hurt, Ratchet?"

"Bad enough. I've done what I can for her, but Barricade really did a number on her."

The reverberating growl that came at his words had the medical officer scrambling for something to placate his comrade. The only thing he could come up with put him back on his original train of thought. He geared himself to be as threatening as possible given the height difference between the two of them, took a deep breath, and let him have it.

"I just can't believe you would do such a thing! Especially with Miss Madsen in such danger!" He hissed out, hoping that his returned fury would be enough of a distraction to pull their Prime away from his dark thoughts.

Optimus shuttered his optics briefly, letting out a low sigh before speaking. "Ratchet, I told you, I was beyond controlling myself."

The CMO was extremely pleased with himself when he realized that his ploy had worked. Prime was still angry, but now the anger was directed at his irate medic instead of at the escaped Barricade. It meant that there would be more time for the medic to locate said Decepticon and repair him enough that he wouldn't permanently offline. With this in mind he drove on ahead, absently squeezing the wrench in his hand as if he'd use it against the larger Autobot. He wouldn't, of course, but Optimus didn't need to know that.

"That is no excuse! She needed medical attention immediately! I couldn't move her and leave you there to become another Megatron!"

The Autobot leader winced, his tone coming out flat and mildly annoyed. "That would not have happened. I was not so far gone that I'd have descended into his brand of madness."

"You certainly could have fooled me. Optimus, I never wanted to see another person go through that. I don't care that he's our enemy. Being forced to watch Megatron do it to Cliffjumper was bad enough. Tyger Pax was hard enough to sort through as it was. I don't need more nightmares to combine with my old ones. "

The look he got told him that Optimus was just as horrified about that as he was. "Ratchet, I'm sorry. He crossed the line, but I shouldn't have crossed another to deal with it."

"No you shouldn't have." He sighed, turning around to check on Maggie. "But it is in the past now. I will not speak of it to the others. Just…try to control yourself better next time. I understand that your charge was threatened, but we are not Decepticons. There are better ways to deal with our enemies." He looked over his shoulder at the massive form of his leader and sighed, deciding that Optimus could remain in the med bay for now. So long as he stayed out of the way there was really no harm and having him there.

* * *

(Maggie)

-One Week Later-

Her mind began returning to consciousness some time later. How much time exactly had passed she wasn't sure, but it was more than a day. Her whole body ached from whatever ordeal she'd been through, though the pounding in her head was much more prominent.

As things started coming back together slowly she started experimenting with her body. She wiggled her fingers, then her toes, then tried shifting her body a little bit to see how bad her injuries were. She knew she'd been hurt, but she couldn't remember how or how badly. She was relieved that she could wiggle her fingers and toes, but winced when pain shot in a line down her back when she shifted. She wasn't paralyzed, thankfully, but she was hurt enough that getting up wasn't going to be a good idea.

There was movement above her, and it drew her attention away from her injuries. The voices from before came into focus right after, though the tone was distinctly different. This time both sounded weary, the deeper one more so.

"Optimus, you've been here the entire time she's been unconscious. You must get some recharge or you won't be any use to anyone." One voice said, a gentler tone to it from the last time she'd heard them speaking.

"I promised her that I would not leave her side again. I intend to keep that promise." The one she assumed to be Optimus said, sounding like he hadn't slept in awhile. From what Ratchet had been saying, he probably hadn't.

"You will be in no state to keep that promise if you don't take care of yourself. Please do as I say. I don't want to have to order you to do so, and you know I can. You are Prime, and my superior, but I am the CMO and I can overrule you if I feel that you are in some form of medical danger. Exhausting yourself counts as medical danger."

A low sigh echoed through the room, followed by the sound of someone shifting from a different position. "Very well, I'll go recharge. I expect you to notify me if she wakes."

"Of course, sir. She's your charge, you'll be the first to…"

She figured he stopped talking because she'd made a sound, but couldn't bring herself to care. She was hurting, she was cold, and she wanted some answers. Blue-green eyes opened slowly, focusing on the two blurry images that were closed in around her bed.

It took her mind about a minute to process what she was seeing, and when she did she started screaming. Her company, and the owners of the two voices she'd been hearing on and off for some time, were two giant robots.

* * *

Well here it is.  
This will be my last update for the next few weeks. I've hit my finals and I need to concentrate on them.  
Hopefully I still have a few faithful readers out there, and maybe a few new ones.  
I hope everyone enjoys this chapter, and I'll see you next time.  
As always, please read and review.


	9. More than a Memory

**Autobot in Shining Armor**

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, Beast Wars, or any of the characters affiliated with either series. A huge thank you goes out to all my reviewers and to my lovely beta Blackwing.Rose for all her continued help and support.

* * *

Chapter Nine: More Than a Memory

_

* * *

__(Optimus)_

All sound in the room had seemed to cease for a few moments in time as his electric blue optics met the wide-eyed blue-green of his charge. For a moment, relief flooded his systems. Relief that she was alive; that she was online once more; that he hadn't failed in his first attempt to be a guardian. That relief was short-lived, however, as she sank back against the medical berth she'd been lain out on and started screaming at both himself and Ratchet. At first, he thought there was an intruder and that she was wisely telling them about it in her own way, but his scanners didn't pick up any Decepticon signatures for miles. So what was wrong?

"Maggie, please stop this. We are your friends," he tried to soothe her, hoping that only her sudden reawakening in the medical bay had her so frightened.

Of course, his usual soft-spoken manner of speech didn't seem to help matters in the least. As a matter of fact, it only served to cause his young charge to panic all the more. It made him wonder if she'd actually been conscious to see his vicious attack on the Decepticon hunter earlier. He hadn't thought she was, but perhaps…

"Maggie, you must calm down. I'm not going to hurt you." He had to keep trying – he knew that much. She had stopped screaming, at least, though the way her little body kept heaving was a cause for concern. From what he knew of humans, this was not a normal state.

Optimus sighed and looked to his medical officer for some form of aid. Since Maggie's primary source of panic seemed to be Optimus himself, then perhaps a change of tactics was in order.

"Ratchet?"

"Yes, sir?"

He paused, watching as his CMO tilted his head to one side before he continued speaking. "Perhaps it would be best if I left the room for now. She seems to grow more distressed the longer I remain within her sight."

Ratchet's blue optics gentled, his hand raising to rest against his leader's shoulder. "That would probably be best. I'll see what I can do… perhaps put her on a sedative until we can be sure of why she seems so afraid. I will not have one of my patients hurting themselves out of fear." He removed his hand and nudged his friend. "Get going then, Optimus. I'll let you know when it is safe for you to return."

All he could do was nod before turning to go. He paused at the entrance to the medical bay, seeming to sense something there for a moment. Optimus shook his head. There was nothing he could do for her now… not until she calmed down enough to speak with him. He didn't want to cause her any further stress. Her injuries were serious enough without him adding to them. Ratchet would take care of her, so for now he passed his guardian duties to the medic, leaving his charge in the most capable hands possible.

_

* * *

__(Maggie)_

'_Okay, Maggie – let's review. I'm supposed to be on my way to the Pentagon with my team to help with some secret government thing… I fell asleep on the ride there, and then I wake up in the hands of some huge robotic life forms. I've been beaten to a pulp sometime in between the ride to the Pentagon and waking up here, possibly to the point that I'm going to need some serious time off after this. The bigger one….Optimus, I think, is gone for now. Now I just have to get rid of the big neon one. What's his name again? Wrench? No, that's not it… it's… __**AHA**__! It's Ratchet! I knew I'd figure it out,'_ Maggie thought as she searched the room she was in for some clue as to where she was and how she'd gotten there.

Had these robotic creatures hurt her or rescued her? Was she safe with them, or should she be trying to find a way out? These questions had no immediate answer, and she was hurting enough that she wished she didn't have to worry about it right then. Stress with the sort of injuries she might have was not a good thing.

The blond-haired analyst stared up at the pacing form of the smaller of the two robots, wondering if he'd squish her if she tried to speak to him. Now that she wasn't panicking and screaming at people, perhaps she could get some answers. She was a smart woman, and she'd been in enough situations where her wit was the only weapon she had to know not to panic. Now that the big one was gone, and she didn't feel so threatened, there was a chance of figuring out a peaceful solution to this entire situation.

Taking a deep, slow breath, Maggie said, "Excuse me, Mr. Huge Cranky Robot. Could you possibly tell me where I am, what happened to me, and why you and Mr. Huger Than Life have brought me to this place?"

The neon robot turned to look at her, his pacing ceasing almost immediately. Electric blue eyes regarded her thoughtfully, as if he was considering something about her that he didn't understand. So far he didn't seem to be hostile, and her vague impression of being tended to fretfully by the cranky one made her feel somehow safer. It was why she felt better after the larger or the two had left the room. This one she had some memory of, and knew that he was more of a healer than a fighter. That meant that he wasn't likely to hurt her, so long as she didn't do anything to insult him. The other one was completely unknown to her, and even though he'd been calm and kind to her, she didn't want him near her. She'd rather take her chances with the possible medic.

A low sound escaped her, and the robot started fussing over her again. "Does your head hurt, Miss Madsen? You should lie back down for a while… your injuries are severe. I have been doing my best for you, but you still need to take things easy."

Maggie nodded, deciding to do as he asked her for now. This one was definitely their medic. She eased her battered body back into a reclined position, though she was beyond uncomfortable on the hard metal table. She endured it well, returning her thoughts to the current situation. "I still want to know what happened to me."

The medic nodded and came to stand at the foot of her bed so that she could see him. "Well, it seems that you've suffered some memory loss. You were targeted by Barricade, one of our Decepticon enemies. Optimus fought him off for you, and I brought you here to see to your injuries."

Memory loss? That would explain why she didn't know where she was… but how much of her memory was missing? "How long? How much have I lost?"

"That depends on how you answer this question. Miss Madsen, what is the last thing you coherently remember before waking up in this medical bay?"

She thought about that for a long moment, then latched onto the ride to the Pentagon after she'd received the call, along with some of her companions, to come. The top minds in the country had been called in on it; a few of which had been hired straight out of college by NASA. "I was on my way with several others to see what project the government had for us. They called in the top minds in our field. I don't remember ever making it there… just falling asleep on the way and waking up here."

He winced, his massive hands going behind his back in a classic military pose. She deemed it the '_At Ease' _pose, but didn't point that out to him. Maggie knew she'd learn more by not running at the mouth.

"Miss Madsen… that was several months ago." He took a deep breath – or at least she _thought_ that was what he was doing – easing out of his military stance and beginning to pace the room again. "You were called in to help analyze a signal intercepted by your military. It was you and your friend Glen that figured out what it was, and it put you both in the middle of an intergalactic war. You are the only human alive that can read and write our language, and I would not put it past you to know how to go through our central processors to find what information you needed. That is another story altogether, but you must know that it puts you over six months off of the current date."

She listened intently, having a hard time grasping what he was telling her. It would mean that these robots were aliens, and that she knew them. This one said that they'd rescued her from another one of their kind, but she didn't know if she should believe him just yet.

He continued on, stopping back next to her bed and inclining at the head and shoulders in a sort of respectful inclination. "Allow me to refresh your memory. I am Ratchet – the Chief Medical Officer for my people. The other one that was here earlier is Optimus Prime, our leader. We are part of a race of autonomous robotic life forms from the planet Cybertron, but you may call us Autobots for short. We came here in search of the Allspark – a powerful artifact – to make sure it never fell into the wrong hands. Again, it is a long story, and one that I will leave for Optimus to tell. For all intents and purposes, we are here to watch over your kind. We live among you, hiding in plain sight. Some of us have taken on human charges. Aside from yourself, there are a handful of others that know of us. Your government knows of our existence, as does a group of special operative soldiers led by one William Lennox. There are also two teenagers, Sam Witwicky and Mikaela Banes, who are under our direct protection as well."

Blue-green eyes focused on the one named Ratchet, considering the information he'd just given her. Many of her questions had been answered, though a few things still seemed out of place somehow. Exactly what things, she didn't know yet, but it was _something_. It was in the way he'd deferred telling her about how and why they were there… in the vague way that he'd retold the events of the past few months. He'd been particularly elusive in the details surrounding her memory loss as well, making her wonder if something had happened during that time that held some importance to her.

Maggie shifted again, this time making a hissing sound when sharp pains raced up from her upper arms and lower back. Immediately Ratchet was leaning close to her, running some form of scan through her that she could bodily feel. It was like having a huge slug sliding down the inside of her body. It made her shudder, which caused her to wince again with pain.

"That felt so wrong!" she told him, glaring at him when his response was to start laughing at her. "What? I'm serious."

Ratchet ceased his laughter after only a few moments, focusing his gentle blue eyes back on her person. "I've heard several sorts of descriptions from others that I've scanned in the past, but that's the first time someone has described it in the way you just did."

Maggie simply crossed her arms across her chest and scowled at the medic. She wasn't mad, really – just a little miffed that this large robot was making fun of her. As juvenile as that sounded, it was still the way she felt about it. Perhaps there was something more to this than she could see for herself. For now, she would bide her time and wait for a chance to find all the answers she was seeking for herself.

* * *

_(Ratchet)_

Memory loss was not something that he was used to dealing with. It was the sort of injury a medic couldn't cure, and that frustrated him. As a medic, he'd repaired and comforted many a mech and femme, but this was totally uncharted territory. If she were Cybertronian he'd have put her offline and tried to find and repair the fried memory chip or shorted relay that was causing the problem, but she was a human… and _they_ could not have their physical minds repaired. It was a design flaw that their race had, but not one he could fault them for. Even if she had been one of his kind, the repairs were never definite.

The medical officer shook his head, clearing his thoughts and putting his tasks back in order. He needed to complete his medical scan of Miss Madsen; needed to check her condition, and see to the repairs he could manage on her. Her lowered stress levels were a relief to his scanners, and he was glad that his esteemed leader had decided to depart on his own. It would have been quite the task to get the nearly thirty foot mech out of the medical bay any other way, especially given how distressed he was over his charge's health. It would certainly have come to that, if Maggie's increased distress at Optimus' presence was any indication.

Toning down the level of his scanner so that his patient wouldn't be able to detect what he was doing, Ratchet finally repeated his scan. When the results finally processed, he went into a mild state of shock. It took him a minute – and two additional rescans – before he finally let reality set in.

Somehow – and he wasn't _sure _how, but somehow – Maggie Madsen was healing her damaged body at an accelerated rate. He wouldn't have been surprised to find this in a fellow Cybertronian, but in this human female, it was more than startling. The breaks and fractures throughout her arms and chest region were now little more than minor bruises, and those were healing more with each passing moment. The bruising around her spinal column had decreased dramatically as well, and it, too, was continuing to heal rapidly. The only real signs of her encounter with Barricade were the bruised and swollen bump on her left temple and the shallow cut along her right temple, and those were minor in comparison to the other injuries she'd sustained.

Ratchet cursed fluently in his native language, pulling up medical information from the web as fast as he could process it. He needed to find out what this was, if it had any side effects he needed to be aware of, and just how long it would last. His searching gave him few answers, and none of the answers he found were what he really needed to know. He did find something that told him that certain humans could heal faster than others, but not by much.

"Well… _slag_…" he murmured, settling a perplexed expression on the young woman sitting on the table. "I don't have an explanation for this. I want to keep you in the med bay overnight, just to make sure everything is healing properly. Tomorrow I will introduce you to Optimus properly and have him explain what I could not. For now, I want you to rest – you will need your strength for tomorrow."

He watched the blond consider what he had said before she nodded, seeming to agree with him. She immediately started to settle, though he worried over the way she winced when she finally got into a laying position. In fact, it bothered him so much that he physically picked her up and started towards a different part of the medbay. As often as Mikaela fell asleep in there, he was prepared for this. There was a little berth on one of the back counters – perfect for their human companions when the hard surface was doing more harm than good.

Maggie squeaked in protest but did not start screaming again. That in itself was a good sign, since it meant that she was at least starting to trust him again. If he could get her calm around him, then he'd try it with one of the others. Probably Ironhide, since he was larger than Ratchet himself was but smaller than Optimus. He set her down just as carefully as he'd picked her up, watching with a critical eye as she settled down in the more comfortable berth and went straight into recharge.

Ratchet sighed. For now, this was as much as he could do. Ironhide would be returning from his trip with the Lennox's tomorrow – and, knowing that weapon-toting idiot, he'd have jammed up at least one of his weapons somehow. He sighed again. _'Oh well… a medic's work is never done.'_


	10. Passing of Duty

Autobot in Shining Armor

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, Beast Wars, or any of the characters affiliated with either series. A huge thank you goes out to all my reviewers and to my wonderful betas and Shini666.

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Chapter Ten: Passing of Duty

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It was inevitable that it would come to this. Of all the possible things to have happened, that he lost himself in front of his charge was unforgivable. He could easily have destroyed Barricade in the moments before rational thought returned to him. It was still horrifying to think that he'd nearly gone through with the same action that led to Megatron's ultimate descent into insanity. It wasn't that he'd tried to extinguish the hunter's spark; it was the way he'd done it. Most of the time he tried to give even his enemies the courtesy of an honorable death, allowing them to fight him to the death even when he knew they were pretty much gone. That he dug for the Decepticon's spark without giving him any such courtesy told him just how far gone he'd been before Ratchet had called him off.

Thank Primus for Ratchet, and he always did. Without his medical officer, he'd have done something unforgivable. It was Ratchet that had kept them all to the path they lived by, some more than others. Despite the almost palpable tension between the medic and the terrible duo, better known to some as Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, he knew for a fact that both the twins held an unshakable respect for their medic. Ratchet had brought both of them back from the edge of death on countless occasions, and drawn Sunstreaker back from the brink of insanity when Sideswipe went missing after Tyger Pax.

It wouldn't surprise him at all if the yellow one of the twins made landfall sometime soon. He'd follow Ratchet down, since it would be the medic that would be able to sense the incomings. If Sideswipe lived, he'd come straight for the signal of other Autobots. He prayed the red twin was still online; otherwise, Sunstreaker wouldn't survive much longer. Being who and what they were, if one went offline, the other was sure to follow. Their bond made it so. He knew of another set of twins where this was true as well, and it made him berate himself all the more. If he _had_ destroyed Barricade...the Autobot leader stopped himself there. He didn't want to dwell on it any longer.

He shook his head, pushing off his current train of thought to pick up the one he'd lost. Maggie was positively terrified of him, as he'd seen when she'd screamed at his general presence in the medbay earlier that day. It hadn't sat well with him - had, in fact, caused his spark to burn painfully within him. The reaction in his spark still flared to life every time he thought back on it. It just seemed terribly wrong for her to fear him this way... she who he had sworn to protect. He'd left her sight voluntarily, leaving her for Ratchet to protect until he could figure out how to approach her again without frightening her. She was in enough pain from her injuries; he didn't need to agitate her any further.

The look she'd given him had dredged up bad memories from the past - memories that were better left buried in his processor. Elita had given Megatron the exact same look when he'd killed Cliffjumper in front of the both of them. It was something he'd never wished to see again, and yet now it wouldn't stop plaguing his systems. The look of absolute horror had been the same between the two femmes, though one was Cybertronian and the other human. The reaction had been the same as well - screaming.

He shook his head, his mind drifting back to that day so many vorns ago.

____________________________________________________

Optics that were once a sparkling shade of blue had darkened to a deep navy... the horror and sadness in them almost too much to bear. Yet she did not once turn her gaze, never once flinched as he who was once the most important individual to them both tore through the shrieking Autobot that had dared stand in his way. It was Optimus that those feral, blood-colored optics were focused on, for this action was meant to cause _him_ pain. The Autobot leader felt at fault any time he lost someone to the war; it was simply his nature. And the fact that he had promised Cliffjumper's sparkmate that he'd return only made the minibot's death all the more painful.

There had been no time to prevent the death, not with the speed with which Megatron grabbed up the injured mech and tore out his spark. The violent action was fuelled by so much hatred and rage that it had frozen the normally quick-acting leader where he stood. Cliffjumper never stood a chance, and he had been torn apart brutally.

It was only after, when Elita started screaming that the now offline body was dropped back to the ground. For a moment, it seemed as if he was going to offer her some form of comfort, but then he drew back from her and walked away. Optimus couldn't say he blamed his brother for doing so - not after seeing the look Elita gave him when he attempted to touch her. Fear. Total and complete terror. The one creature in all of existence that truly understood Megatron's very spark, and she could not bear for him to touch her. She was scared, both of him and of what he had done.

With this one action his brother had alienated himself from the only two individuals that were still willing to believe the best of him.

____________________________________________________

Optimus shook his head once again, silently sending up a prayer to Primus that he hadn't alienated his female charge from himself as his insane sibling had done to Elita. He wasn't certain he'd bear it if she gave him that look every time he came into a room. Surely Primus didn't hate him that much. He wanted to apologize to her, to make her realize that he'd just been trying to protect her, though the resultant violence should have been curbed. Barricade was likely permanently deactivated, meaning there was no way to make this right in Maggie's eyes.

The violent reaction to Barricade's actions had been unexpected, and his normally gentle spark had been driven to exterminate the hunter as if he were some insignificant form of life. As an Autobot, and as the Prime, he should have valued all life. Given their dwindling numbers, extinguishing the black and white's spark should have been a last resort, especially since his life determined the life of another. Perhaps there could have been a way to sway him, to bring him either to their side or make him agree to be neutral.

As things stood now, he had killed not one but two individuals. If the other one had lived, he wouldn't be sane by the time he reached Earth. Again, the large mech berated himself, his thoughts going faster than he could control them. For now only one thing was for certain; Maggie was safer with Ratchet than she was with him

____________________________________________________

So sorry for the shortness, and the time it took me to get this out.  
I've had some problems in real life that have kept my muse hidden for a while.  
Hopefully things will be better now.  
I've also decided to finish this story before going any further on To Protect and Serve.  
I think focusing on one Fanfiction at a time will help me get them done faster.  
Thank you all for your patience and enjoy.


	11. Learning Curve

Autobot in Shining Armor

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, Beast Wars, or any of the characters affiliated with either series. A huge thank you goes out to all my reviewers and to my wonderful beta and my eternal muse Shini666.

-----------------------------------

Chapter Eleven: Learning Curve

-----------------------------------

She'd been left in his care for only one night. It should have been easy enough to keep an eye on her, since she had stayed in the bay overnight so that he could monitor her healing progress, but of course, things never _were_ simple when they concerned humans. Or femmes, for that matter.

Ratchet let out a soft sigh, scanning the bay once again in search of his elusive charge. Optimus had left her to him, since she had seemed alarmed by his presence before. Knowing what he did now he wasn't all that surprised that she'd screamed like that yesterday. Optimus Prime was an imposing mech, especially for those not accustomed to their kind.

"Miss Madsen, I find this little game of hide and seek neither amusing nor particularly necessary. I don't know where you've hidden, but I'm giving you until the count of three to get back where I can see you. After that, I will search and find you, and you will not like what I do when I finally get my hands on you."

It was an age-old threat he'd used on many a misbehaving patient in the past, and one that usually worked to his advantage. After all, no one wanted to be on the receiving end of his wrath. Of course, Maggie wasn't really someone that knew him, so she may not believe he'd go through with his threat.

A loud flush echoed from somewhere in the base, startling the medic and turning his sensors to one of the human-sized doors on the far side of the bay. Miss Madsen came out of the room, drying her hands on a paper towel. She seemed to be better than the day before, as she was walking and moving around on her own without any sort of pain in her movements. Ratchet stood there for a minute, then started berating himself for jumping to conclusions. She'd been relieving herself, instead of the escape attempt he'd thought she'd been trying for.

"Did you say something?" she asked him, staring up the length of his body from her position on the floor.

Ratchet snorted and knelt down slowly to scoot her into his hand. "Nothing at all, little one."

It wouldn't do for someone to come in and accidentally step on her. Of course, being that everyone on base knew Miss Madsen was here, they'd all be watching where they put their giant feet. Once she was safely back on one of the examination tables, he ran a high level scan over her person, his optics narrowing when he realized she'd healed nearly all of the significant damage to her body overnight. There had been great strides towards recovery the night before, but this was even more healing done than he'd estimated. Whatever it was that was causing the accelerated healing rate, he hoped it kept up. At least until the minor bruising around her spinal column and neck finished healing.

He was silently impressed that she hadn't screeched at him when he'd moved to pick her up: it meant she was at least starting to get used to him. The evening before she had been so jumpy and stressed that he'd feared he'd have to sedate her for her to get any sort of rest.

The neon mech was drawn from his musings by the sound of an engine roaring loudly outside. He scowled, knowing the sound all too well. It seemed as though Ironhide had returned, most likely with Lennox. Stubborn, trigger-happy old glitch. He always did have to announce himself to the world, especially when he was returning from some long mission away from the base. Oh, he wasn't so stupid as to do something that foolish during battle… just when he was arriving back at the base. It had scared many a mech, being jolted from recharge by Ironhide's loud revving of his engine. Either that or a stray cannon blast, though those were only when he came back irate at the world.

He brought his optics back to Miss Madsen, considering her for a long moment before offering her his hand. "Ironhide has returned. I need to present you to him so that he knows who you are or he's likely to shoot you. Or squish you, if he can get away with it."

Maggie stared at his large hand for what seemed like an eternity before nodding slightly and climbing from the table into his palm. From there she was placed carefully on the neon mech's shoulder, her slender frame wedged generally between his head and the shoulder mounted lights he sported. He could feel her hanging onto said lights for balance, though paid it very little mind.

It pleased him to see that she was beginning to adapt to being around them again. Memory loss aside, there was a good chance that she'd be back to trusting them before too long. Whether or not she would remain terrified of her guardian had yet to be seen, but he hoped for the best. It was doing terrible things to his leader, being given the look of absolute horror and terror from the one he was protecting. Dispatched Decepticons aside, there were other large mechs on base. Ratchet would have to carefully introduce her to them again, one by one.

Once they were outside the bay and he'd located the lugnut that called himself their weapons specialist, the medic made his way over to the black mech. He was silently pleased to note that Major Will Lennox was perched comfortably on Ironhide's shoulder as Maggie was situated on his own shoulder. Having the human soldier around would help curb Ironhide's natural tendency to be crass, if only a little.

"Ironhide," he greeted, running a scan on the black mech after noting with some disdain that he was covered in mud and grime. "I trust your outing with the Lennox family went well?"

His answer was a grunt and a rather pleased grin. The medic scowled at his long-time friend, feeling his annoyance for this mech rising. "You are covered in the soil of this planet's surface. Wash racks, now," he all but ordered, having no wish to muck out Ironhide's systems should he stay dirty long enough for the mud to dry and get into the crevices on his form. Neither of them would enjoy doing that.

Ratchet was silently pleased when the grin wilted a little under his disapproving gaze, though he knew this wouldn't be the end of things.

"Where'd ya get the squishy, Hatchet?"

Oh, the dreaded nickname. Why did they have to call him that, anyway? It was derogatory on the best of days. Right now it just reminded him too strongly of a certain pair of terror twins that had yet to make an appearance. Primus help all of Earth if they made landfall. Or worse, if only one made landfall without the other close behind. There'd be Pit to pay if the twins had been separated.

"The _**human**_…" He emphasized this, as their human friends hated being referred to as 'squishies'. "Is Miss Maggie Madsen, and she's temporarily my charge. Miss Madsen, meet our weapons specialist, Ironhide. He's not very smart, but he's decent enough."

The blonde femme blinked at the large, cannon-toting Autobot for a long moment before her eyes focused on Will Lennox. "Does he have ADD or something? Coming in here making all that racket?"

For his part, Lennox managed to keep from laughing outright at the very seriously asked question before hazarding an answer. "He doesn't have ADD, I promise. We went and checked him out and everything, just so that the others would stop harassing him about it. 'Hide just likes to make an entrance, don't you, buddy?"

Ratchet actually put his hand over where Maggie was perched when Ironhide took a step forward menacingly, a growl playing out of his chassis. He didn't seem to notice what his human had said at first, as he was too pissed off with the tiny femme to notice. "Ya wanna say that again, runt?"

"Oh, gladly, you oversized walking toaster."

"Miss Madsen!" Ratchet said sternly, both appalled and severely amused at her banter towards the large black mech in front of them. Really, most humans cowered at their first sight of Ironhide, and yet she just sat there and smart-mouthed him rather amusingly. He'd been certain she'd shriek at Ironhide as she had done to Optimus, but instead she seemed to be sending insults at the Topkick with no sign of fear or flinching to her. Curious, that.

Maggie grinned unrepentantly at him, reminding him strongly of another young femme he knew. She even reached forward to pat his hand as he held it in front of her protectively. "Don't worry, doc, I'm just picking at him." She gave him a smile, one that said that she wasn't purposefully picking a fight. She really thought Ironhide would tolerate her smart-aft attitude. So the medic turned his attention to the growling mass of mech before him.

"Ironhide, if you don't stop this nonsense right now, I will dismantle you and use you for spare parts. And for Primus' sake, stop stalking around like that before you dump Major Lennox off your shoulder."

That got his attention. A hand came up to carefully curl around the human holding tightly to the side of his head because of the jostling he'd gotten. "Ya alright there, Lennox?" His tone wasn't really gentle; just a slight bit softer than what he usually used. The soldier was his friend as well as his charge, and Ratchet knew that Will Lennox was probably the only creature in existence that kept Ironhide from flying off the handle. As far as he was aware, there was no one else that so easily defused the weapon's specialist when he was truly in a fit of rage.

"I'm good, 'Hide. Give a guy a warning the next time you want to pick a fight with someone. I'll make sure I'm not on your shoulder."

"My bad."

"S'kay. Everyone loses their temper. Anyway, didn't you get ordered to get a shower?"

Ironhide snorted. "Forgot about that."

Ratchet made sure Maggie was settled on his shoulder before he turned to glare at his long-time friend. "You did not – you just started arguing with Miss Madsen. I should steal your human and haul your aft to the wash racks myself, you giant slagger."

"Now, Ratch', not so much o' that in front of the humans. I'm already in trouble with Will's mate for teachin' Annabelle something they didn't want her saying." He looked a little embarrassed about that, rubbing the back of his head in a manner similar to what Lennox did when admonished by his mate.

The medic's mood lightened a little at that. They were all picking up habits from the humans they protected, even the ever-grouchy Ironhide. He wondered if his friend noticed this phenomenon. Certainly Bumblebee had noticed it, as the young scout was often commenting to Sam that he'd 'picked up' another odd habit from one of his charges. Though really only the Witwicky boy was his charge, the scout often protected Mikaela Banes as well.

Speaking of charges…

He scanned the young woman on his shoulder carefully, watching with amusement as she shuddered at the scan. "Ratchet, don't do that!" She still had an issue with being scanned by him, which he found amusing. Most of the humans he scanned barely felt anything, and yet Miss Madsen shook as if something cold had been dropped down her back. There had been no other purpose to the scan than to see her do that.

Of course, this stopped when Ironhide offered him Lennox to tend to while he went to clean up. The human male was carefully set on his other shoulder. Ratchet knew too well how protective Ironhide was of the human soldier. He did wonder, though, if Maggie Madsen remained his charge for an extended period of time, whether or not he'd get that protective of her. That was under the assumption that Optimus wouldn't be able to ease back into his guardianship position some time in the near future.

With the humans chatting to either side of his head, Ratchet allowed his thoughts to wander. He was still concerned over the events of the last few days, especially with how violent his leader had been in defense of his charge. Optimus was never that violent, except for that one time at Tyger Pax, but that didn't count. A lot of them did things they weren't exactly proud of during that hellish battle.

He was drawn from his thoughts when both humans went silent on his shoulders. Maggie was staring with wide eyes at a point somewhere in the sky, Lennox following her gaze with a slightly pinched look to his features. When the medic turned his scanners skyward he almost had to shake himself to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

There, coming down at a slightly uneven level, was a protoform pod.

* * *

  
Sorry for the wait.  
I hope this chapter was worth it.  
Thanks to all of those that have stuck with me and please enjoy the chapter.


	12. New Arrivals

Autobot in Shining Armor

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, Beast Wars, or any of the characters affiliated with either series. A huge thank you goes out to all my reviewers and to my wonderful betas Blackwing Rose and Shini666.

* * *

Chapter Twelve: New Arrivals

* * *

A pod. After all the hoping; after all the worrying from Optimus that no others would come to the call sent out just after Mission City, there it was. A single, horrifyingly swaying protoform pod. Ratchet was already sending out every sort of scan he could, pushing his long range scanners to the max to make sure he knew what he'd be dealing with when the unsteady craft finally touched down. The two humans on his shoulders were momentarily ignored, his form stilling as he focused his optics skyward. A spark of recognition flared when the scan came back with something he hoped was false.

_Sunstreaker._

Optimus had told him that the yellow warrior would make straight for him once the word went off, so long as he was functioning. Ratchet had always been the one to sort the twins out; he had been there as both comfort and confidant time and again when the two went through Pit and back again, together and apart. And Primus help them all – the pod was solo. Sideswipe wasn't going to be coming down with his twin, and Sunstreaker hadn't seen him since Tyger Pax. Everyone feared the worst, but with the yellow twin still functional, there was simply no way that they'd lost his brother. One twin would simply not survive the death of the other – it wasn't possible. They shared a spark, much like the sparkmate bond that both terrified and fascinated many of them.

His processor was forced back to the ground when he sensed Maggie pressing in closer to his head, a surge of fear swamping her. "Whatever is the matter, Miss-?"

He stopped when he noticed that his leader was out of the base, his large frame standing rigid as he watched the pod's steady progress towards the ground. It was Optimus that the young femme was frightened of… but why? She feared none of the others thus far – not even Ironhide.

"Everyone down!" Lennox shouted from his other shoulder, noticing before the Autobots around him that the pod was baring down on their current position. The soldier went from one shoulder to the other quickly, scooping up Miss Madsen and making the jump from shoulder to palm without having to be told. Ratchet nearly hit the ground right after as the pod came within inches of hitting him upside of the head.

The resounding sound of impact not even twenty yards behind them had the medic back on his feet before he could even process what had happened. He noticed a bewildered Ironhide coming from what passed for their wash racks and quickly handed the two humans over to him. "Protect them! We have a new arrival and he's not going to be easy to deal with." He was nearly out of range before he shot back one more order. "And for Primus' sake, keep Maggie away from Optimus – he terrifies her!"

"Wha-? Ratchet! Come back here – I don't want this human! Ratchet! What's goin' on? Who is it?" Ironhide was at his heels, the two humans safely hidden in his hands.

"Don't follow me, nitwit! If he sees you after the Pit he's been through, he's likely to attack you. And you _**will **_protect _**my**_ charge, or I will turn you into the biggest toaster the Earth has ever seen!"

The sound of booming footsteps ceased as the black mech took his medic's warning to spark. You didn't disobey Ratchet when he was in one of these moods; those that did tended to have their appendages ripped off and used to beat them over the head. It pleased the neon mech no end that someone like Ironhide was so easily dissuaded – that he could bully the larger mech into doing as he was told.

He wasn't kidding about Sunstreaker attacking, either. Given his state of mind and past experience, the yellow frontliner was nothing short of vicious when he was left without his better half for longer than a few days. He wouldn't be harmed because he was their friend – their constant encouragement and safety. He'd known the twins longer than everyone else, and they trusted him with their sparks. It was an honor that he took very seriously, for true twins were a rare thing, and mated pairs even more so. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe were both, though it was debatable whether or not they were sharing as well. As twins shared a spark, there was no doubt that they were bonded on a level that most of them didn't understand. Ratchet respected that and adjusted accordingly. It was why he was the only medic they'd let touch them; the only one they trusted to tend to their injuries. They may have been a thorn in his side, but they were loyal to him.

By the time he reached the crashed pod, the frontliner was already trying desperately to get to his feet. His form was barely recognizable, covered in so much filth and so many injuries that it was hard to see the once vainly shiny Autobot as the same twin he had come to find. Of course, once a pair of soft, baby blue optics locked on him, he lost any doubt he had. Sunstreaker was a little on the large side, though not as large as Ratchet himself. He was much more leanly built; his form was designed for speed instead of brute force or heavy lifting.

"Sunstreaker, do you know who I am?" he asked softly, soothing the beaten down yellow mech as best he could.

"Ratchet, unless my processor is playing tricks on me again." He sounded so despondent that it was hard for the medic to believe he'd ever been the vain troublemaker prone to dropping by unannounced with his twin over some mishap between them, causing one or both to land themselves injured.

"That's right. I'm right here. Optimus knew you'd come straight here if you knew there was a chance I'd be here." He took another step forward and eased the yellow mech into his side, wrapping one arm across his shoulders and shifting their combined weight to allow him the easiest and safest manner of transport back to the base. It wasn't too far, but it looked like the frontliner hadn't had sufficient energon to power him in a long time. Of course, he was also suffering from spark shock – and, most likely, recharge deprivation from having to constantly be on alert for any enemies in his path. The neon medic felt sorry for any that got in his way.

Once walking no longer seemed to be an issue, the yellow twin let his frame sag, allowing Ratchet to support his weight. "Sides'?" he asked, hoping that somehow, his twin had made it there ahead of him and was safe after all. It was that hope that had kept him heading this way, even when everyone else he'd been traveling with either ran off or were eliminated.

It pained Ratchet that he had to be the one to give such bad news to the already disheartened mech next to him, but it wouldn't be very wise to tell him Sideswipe was there when he wasn't. "Not yet, but we mustn't give up on him just yet. He's a crafty one, your brother. He'll find his way here – to you – one way or the other. Until then, I'll keep you company."

"Promise?" That the yellow twin even asked told Ratchet they'd be unable to keep him much longer if Sideswipe didn't show up soon. He was weak and incoherent, functioning through sheer stubbornness and determination. Without something to hold onto, or someone to fight for, he'd just let go and rejoin the Matrix in hopes of finding his twin there.

The medic did the only thing he could, given the situation. "Of course. Haven't I always looked after you two Pit-spawned fraggers?"

A rumbling sound met his audios instead of an answer. That was Sunstreaker's way of giving an affirmative when he was too tired to speak. As they entered the temporary medbay, however, he managed to find his vocals again. "Ratchet?"

"Yes?"

"It's good to see you again. At least, with you, I know things won't ever change."

He'd have commented to that, but around that time, Sunstreaker became a dead weight at his side, and he had to haul him up onto the only berth his medbay currently had. Really, couldn't the humans have given him more to work with than this? The space was adequate, but the materials were not. If he didn't get some better parts soon, and one of their engineers didn't show up, there would come an injury he didn't have the equipment to deal with. After Jazz's loss, he didn't like that possibility; not at all. For now, only time would tell whether or not things would work themselves out.

* * *

(Just beyond Earth's moon)

It had taken him far longer than he had intended for him to arrive at the planet where Optimus Prime's signal had come from. He'd been too far away for even the added boost he had with his door wings to return any sort of message. It was frustrating that the situation was so out of his control, but he knew better than to strain his systems at this point. Something on that planet had gone horribly wrong – he could feel it in his spark. It had to be something to do with either Jazz or with that no-account hunter, Barricade. Either one would have his instincts telling him something was wrong, though one would set off flags in his spark as well.

He didn't dwell on that.

Logically speaking, he could have been here in half the time if he hadn't adjusted course to make sure the mech tailing him stayed on the right track. It just didn't occur to him at the time that he'd be off his scheduled arrival time for the action, but there was no way he was going to leave that particular mech drifting alone as he had been. Not when he was the only creature in all of existence that could control a certain yellow menace.

Currently, he was waiting in the orbit of the great moon just beyond the blue planet that was his actual goal, waiting for that mech to arrive. Once he received a confirmation that the other was there, they would go down together. It was more practical to go down in pairs than alone. Perhaps there was more chance of them being seen, but there was also less chance that they'd be overwhelmed by any lurking Decepticons.

His comm. line made a crackling sound filled with static before a weary but familiar voice came through at last. "I'm on the other side of this chunk of rock. Let's get down there; I need to find Ratchet. Maybe he's seen Sunstreaker." A pause. "Do you think there's anyone left alive down there?"

He had to stop himself from going through that more practical possibility, instead offering the weary soldier the answer he wanted. "If Optimus was able to send the message, then I assume that he and his team are as well as can be accepted. I… There was mention of a heavy price during the battle, so we may be going down to another lost comrade. Still, the probability of all of them being destroyed is very low."

"I'm amazed… You're optimistic."

"Hush, you. Now come, we have to plan our entry point and be certain we are not seen by the locals… or any Decepticons that may be lurking down there somewhere."

"Yes, sir!" came the faintly energetic reply.

This was a matter of concern as well, albeit something he couldn't deal with. After all, he wasn't exactly equipped to handle matters of the spark. Being as he was, there was no way he'd touch _that_ problem, especially not when he was avoiding something similar. Why Primus had to curse him with a twin he didn't know, but he dealt with it better than others could. At least he could make sure the other half of the terrible duo got down to the planet safely. From there, he'd map out another strategy to get them to Tranquility – and, consequently, to their comrades.

He turned his attention to finding a safe entry point with his traveling companion, unaware of just what awaited them on the floating blue planet below.

* * *

And that's it  
Cyber cookies to anyone that can tell me who our two new arrivals are in the last part of the chapter.  
Thank you for your patience and enjoy.


End file.
